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O  PRINCETON,    N.    J.  <f> 

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TABLE  OF  SPECTRA. 


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1 

THE    CREATION 


EARLY  DEVELOPMENTS  OF 
SOCIETY 


JAMES    H.   CHAPIN,    PH.  D. 

PhOFESSOR    OF   GEOLOGY    AND    MINERALOGY,    ST.    LAWRENCE    UNIVERSITY 


NEW    YORK    &    LONDON 

G.     P.     PUTNAM'S     SONS 

S^Ije  Jlniclurbockcr  |1r£ss 

1885 


Copyright,  1880,  by  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons 


Press  of 

G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons 

New  York 


TO 

MY     CONGREGATION 

IN 

MERIDEN,    CONNECTICUT, 

AND   TO 

THE     PROFESSORS     AND     STUDENTS     IN     ST.    LAWRENCF 
UNIVERSITY,     CANTON,    N.   Y., 

WHO  FIRST  GAVE  THESE  LECTURES  A  PATIENT  HEARING, 

THIS   VOLUME 

3s   Hff£tt(oTtattl2    3n5wiiclr. 


PREFACE 


This  little  work  is  written  in  no  spirit  of  con- 
troversy. It  is  not  an  attempt  to  reconcile  Science 
and  Religion.  The  author  does  not  believe  there 
is  any  necessary  conflict  between  them,  but  that 
each  has  a  realm  of  its  own — each  is  capable  of 
sustaining  itself — and  that,  clearly  interpreted,  each 
may  contribute  something  to  the  other,  without  in- 
validating its  own  premises  or  subverting  its  own 
conclusions. 

He  leaves  the  popular  theories,  therefore,  to  fall 
into  line  with  each  other  or  out  of  line,  as  the  case 
may  be,  without  any  attempt  to  place  a  forced 
meaning  on  a  word,  or  to  draw  any  conclusions 
from  scientific  data  that  ascertained  facts  will  not 
reasonably  warrant. 

He  desires  hereby  to  express  his  obligations  to 
Rev.  A.  G.  Gaines,  D.D.,  President  of  St.  Lawrence 
University,  for  valuable  criticisms  ;  to  Rev.  I.  M, 
Atwood,    D.D.,   of  the    Canton    Theological    School^ 


PREFA  CE. 

who  kindly  examined  a  portion  of  his  manuscript  ; 
to  Profs.  J.  D.  Dana  and  B.  Siliiman,  of  Yale  Col- 
lege, and  Prof.  J.  S.  Newberry,  of  Columbia  College, 
for  personal  favors  received  during  the  preparation 
of  his  book. 

He  has  also  availed  himself  of  the  published 
writings  of  Rev.  Thomas  Hill,  D.D.,  late  President 
of  Harvard  University;  of  Rev.  F.  H.  Hedge,  D.D., 
from  whom  the  subject  of  one  of  these  lectures  is 
borrowed  with  the  author's  consent,  and  to  Dr. 
J.  W.  Dawson,  of  McGill  College,  Montreal,  though 
from  the  latter  he  differs  somewhat  widely  on  va- 
rious  points. 

^  J.  H.  C. 

Meriden,  Conn. 


CONTENTS 


CHAP.  PAGE 

I. — Primeval  Chaos i 

II. — Light ig 

III,— The  Firmament,  Sea,  and  Dry  Land ,     37 

IV. — Plant  Life 57 

V. — Animal  Life 75 

Vi. — The  Geological  Record , ...     1,9 

VII. — Man 123 

VIII. — Problem  of  Civilization 147 

IX. — Failure  of  Primeval  Society 171 

X. — Diversity  OF  Tongues 191 

XI. — Antiquity  of  Man 211 

XII. — Ancient  Civilization  in  North  America 243 


Primeval  Chaos 


In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heaven  and  the  earth.' 


Not  to  the  domes,  where  crumbling  arch  and  column 
Attest  the  feebleness  of  mortal  hand, 
But  to  that  fane,  most  catholic  and  solemn. 
Which  God  hath  planned." 

— Longfellow. 


The  tokens  of  a  central  force, 

O'erlap  and  move  the  universe ; 

The  workings  of  the  law  whence  springs 

The  rhythmic  harmony  of  things. 

Which  shapes  in  earth  the  darkling  spar, 

And  orbs  in  heaven  the  morning  star." 


PRIMEVAL   CHAOS. 

The  world  exists.  Whence  came  it,  and  what 
was    the    order   in   which    its   several    parts 

,  ^        ^^r         1.  •  1  11  1      The  subject 

appeared  ?      We     live    in    the    world    and 

hold    various    relations    to    our   fellow-men. 

How   came  these   relations  to  exist,  and   what    were 

the    first   steps    toward    the    formation    of  society   as 

it  is  to-day  ? 

Such  are  the  themes  of  our  discourse  in  the 
Series   of   Lectures   we   now  begin. 

We  assume  the  championship  of  no  theory 
whatever  —  Scientific  or  Religious  —  but  propose, 
with  such  helps  as  may  be  at  command,  to  trace 
out  what  seems  the  most  reasonable  theory  of  the 
origin  of  the  world,  with  its  marvellous  harmony 
and  arrangements ;  and  then,  of  the  first  few  steps 
in  the  progress  of  human  events  out  of  which 
came  social   order  and   civil  institutions. 

For    the    sake    of    simplicity    we    shall, 

'■  treatment, 

as  far  as  may  be,  avoid  the  use  of  merely 
technical    names    and    terms,    and    employ    words    in 


4  THE    CREA  TION. 

common  use.  When  for  want  of  a  convenient 
substitute  it  is  necessary  to  use  terms  not  en- 
tirely familiar,  we  shall  turn  aside  from  the  line 
of  discussion  to  explain  them  briefly,  that  when 
we  proceed  we  may  go  on  understandingly  to- 
gether. Two  or  three  such  words  occur  in  the 
opening  lecture,  and  others  will  appear  from  time 
to   time. 

So   to   our  undertaking. 

Sir  Isaac  Newton  sat  one  day,  it  is  said,  exam- 
ining a  new  artificial  globe  of  superior  design  and 
workmanship,  when  an  Atheistic  friend  with  whom 
he  had  had  frequent  discussions  entered  the  room, 
and  after  admiring  the  new  globe  asked  the  very 
natural  question,  ''Who  made  it?"  To  which 
the  philosopher  replied,  "  Nobody ;  it  happened/* 
Such  an  answer  to  such  question  strikes  us  at 
once  as  not  only  unreasonable  but  absurd,  and 
yet  it  is  substantially  the  answer  the  Atheist  must 
give   to  the  question,  "  Who   made  the  world  ?  " 

We  are    unable    to    accoiint    for  the   existence  of 
anything    having    manifest    marks    of    de- 

The  world        .  .  ^        .     .•  c    

sien,  contrivance    or   adaptation    ot    means 

created.  ^  ^ 

to  ends,  except  on  the  supposition  that 
it  was  conceived  and  planned  by  intelligence  and 
wrought   into    shape   by  skill   and    power. 

It  will  hardly  satisfy  any  exacting  mind  to  say 
that    if  there    are    sufficient    causes    in    existence   to 


PRIMEVAL    CHAOS.  5 

produce  a  given  result,  that  explains  the  result. 
It  may  explain  the  cause,  it  does  not  explain  the 
occasion  for  the  thing  itself.  If,  passing  by  a  field 
where  a  plough  stands  in  the  furrow,  we  are  asked 
why  such  an  implement  was  made,  it  is  not 
sufficient  to  say,  "  The  force  in  the  blacksmith's 
arm  and  the  skill  of  the  worker  in  wood  caused  it 
to  take  form."  It  was  meant  for  a  specific  purpose 
and   constructed   for  a  definite    use. 

x\nd   so  our  reason  forces   us   back  of  the   world 
to  a  cause  beyond  the  world.  g^^^  p^^^. 

It  is  not  within  the  range  of  our  pres-  er  beyond 
ent  purpose,  however,  to  attempt  to  prove 
the  existence  of  a  Creator;  but  taking  that  for 
granted,  to  inquire  by  and  through  what  processes 
the  world  was  made  to  assume  the  form  and 
nature  which  it  has.  We  set  out,  hence,  with  the 
assumption  stated  in  the  opening  of  the  book  of 
Genesis,  that  "  In  the  beginning  God  created  the 
heavens  and  the  earth." 

If  the  earth  was  created,  manifestly  there  was 
a  time  when  it  was  not,  and  therefore  a  time 
when  it  began  to   be. 

We  do  not  attempt  to  fix  the  date  of  this 
event,    or    even    to    guess    how    long    since 

Date  of  the 

the    work    began.     For    if    we    suppose    it      ^^^.^^^j^^^ 
but    six     thousand    years    since    man     ap- 
peared on  the   earth — a  supposition    for  which   there 


O  THE    CREATION. 

is  no  sufficient  reason  in  Scripture  or  elsewhere  — 
that  does  not  help  us  to  determine  how  long  before 
that  the  process  of  world-making  began.  We  can 
only  say  it  was  before  all  other  recorded  events, 
or  as  the  Hebrew  record  states  it,  "  In  the  begin- 
ning." 

We  do  not  attempt  to  dogmatize  as  to  the 
meaning  of  the  word  "  create."  It  some- 
times means  to   produce  absolutely,  that  is 

create.  ^  -^ 

to  originate  —  and  sometimes  to  shape 
and  set  in  order.  In  this  passage  it  may  include 
both  meanings,  both  the  originating  of  substance 
or  material,  and  the  shaping  or  setting  in  order, 
since,  so  far  as  we  have  any  means  of  ascertaining, 
up  to  this  time,  space  was  tenantless  and  the  uni_ 
verse  was  silent  ;  an  abysmal  depth  without  an 
occupant.  This,  of  course,  we  do  not  absolutely 
know,  but  back  of  that  we  have  no  record  in  na- 
ture or  elsewhere. 

Hutton,  a  distinguished  Scotch  geologist  of    the 

last    century,    assumed    that    science    had 

Hutton's  ,  .  .  ...  .    .  -      ,  . 

nothmq-  to  do  with  the    oris'in    of   thmes, 

theory.  ^  ^  i=>    ' 

that  it  dealt  only  with  existing  causes, 
and  that,  therefore,  anything  beyond  the  range  of 
causes  now  in  operation  was  out  of  the  reach  of 
science.  And  on  this  theory  he  says :  "  In  the 
economy  of  the  world  I  find  no  traces  of  a  be- 
ginning,   no   prospect    of   an    end."     This    statement 


PRIMEVAL    CHAOS,  7 

is  now  regarded  as  too  broad,  for  in  the  gradual 
change  and  wearing  away  of  things,  there  is  a 
prospect  of  an  end,  whatever  may  be  said  of  the 
beginning.  And  the  words  already  quoted  give 
us  our  only  starting-point  :  "  In  the  beginning  God 
created  the  heaven  and  the  earth." 

But  it  must  be  said  of  this  account  that  it 
merely  states  the  fact^  without  any  at-  Th  /  / 
tempt  to  explain  the  processes  involved,  merely  stated 
And  for  this  there  was  sufficient  reason. 
It  was  important,  in  a  religious  point  of  view, 
that  men  should  be  persuaded  that  this  world  was 
the  work  of  an  intelligent  and  powerful  Creator. 
The  course  and  method  of  the  work  were  of  less 
concern.  The  fact  is  stated,  but  there  is  no  clue 
whatever  here  to  the   processes. 

If,  now,  we  wish  to  know  something  of  the 
processes  by  which  the  work  of  creation  was 
wrought,  we  must  turn  to  an  entirely  different 
field. 

What,  then,  has  Science  to  tell  us  of  the  ori- 
gin of  things. 

The    first    condition    in    which    science       ^^°^° 

Science. 

assumes  to  recognize  the  world  is  that  of 
a  vast    nebula,   embracing  all   the   matter    now   con- 
tained   in    the    solar    system ;    and    though    it    has 
been     propounded,     disputed,     accepted,     and     then 
doubted    again,    the    most    reasonable    and    best    at- 


8  THE    CREATION. 

tested  theory  of  the  origin  of  the  world,  is  that 
known  as  the  nebular  hypothesis.  A  nebula  is  a 
vaporous  or  filmy  substance,  more  tenuous  than 
the  comet's  tail,  or  the  thinnest  portions  of  the 
milky  way.  Tyndall  not  inaptly  terms  it  *' star- 
dust,"  and  Herschell  more  accurately  describes  it 
as  "an  im.palpable  haze,"  as  it  has  no  more  ap- 
pearance of  solidity  or  substance  than  the  most 
delicate  or  subtile   cloud. 

The     nebular  hypothesis    may    be    briefly     indi- 
cated   thus :     If  we    sweep     the     heavens 

The  nebular         •   i  i  i  •    i 

-    .      With   a    telescope,   on   any  clear    nio^ht,  we 

hypothesis.  -^    '  -^  fc.       ' 

may  observe  nebulae  at  frequent  inter- 
vals ;  some  having  the  appearance  merely  of  a 
very  tenuous  cloud,  others  with  a  small  nucleus 
at  the  centre,  surrounded  by  a  vaporous  substance, 
denser  near  the  centre,  and  thinning  toward  the 
edges,  as  if  it  were  gradually  condensing  to  a 
solid  substance.  Such  bodies,  larger  or  smaller, 
have  inhabited  the  heavens  during  the  whole 
period  covered  by  history  and  tradition,  and  proba- 
bly from  the  beginning  until  now.  And  each  of 
the  solid  planets,  like  the  earth,  was  once  a  neb- 
ula. Then,  as  to  the  origin  of  these  several 
bodies,  they  were  at  first  all  one.  Far  back  in  the 
remotest  ages,  or  in  the  very  beginning,  all  the 
depths  of  space  were  filled  with  this  impalpable 
substance.      By    the  law    of  gravitation,    it    assumed 


PRIMEVAL    CHAOS.  9 

a  spherical  form,  as  any  substance  will  whose  par- 
ticles are  free  to  move,  as  the  tear  upon  the 
cheek,  or  the  dewdrop  on  the  grass,  is  round  ; 
and  the  whole  mass  had  a  rotary  or  whirling 
motion,  for  law  and  energy  were  already  operating 
upon  it.  That  is  to  say,  it  was  not  a  chance 
agglomeration  of  waste  atoms,  rolling  through 
space  on  a  fruitless  errand ;  it  was  the  material 
of  which  this  complete  and  wonderful  world  was 
to  be  constructed:  it  was  intended  for  something, 
and  to  that  end  energy  was  put  into  it,  and  law 
controlled    it    from   the   first. 

As  this  vast  body  wheeled  on  through  space, 
portions  of  its  bulk  became  detached  from  time 
to  time,  as  water  flies  from  the  surface  of  a  wheel 
in  rapid  motion;  or,  an  exterior  ring  became  de- 
tached, as  the  centrifugal  force  overcame  the  cen- 
tripetal, and  this  ring  first  breaking  up  became 
aggregated  in  a  single  mass.  And  this  process 
was  repeated  from  time  to  time.  However  the 
separation  may  have  taken  place,  the  parts  so  de- 
tached not  only  continued  the  whirling  or  rotary 
motion,  each  on  its  own  account,  but  received 
also  an  additional  motion,  dependent  on  the  at- 
traction of  gravitation,  which  sent  it  in  a  circuit 
about  the  central  mass.  And  from  that  time 
forth  it  had  a  separate  existence,  was  a  separate 
nebula,    still    retaining,     however,  something    of    the 


lO  THE   CREA  TIOIV. 

energy,    and    obeying    the    law    that    controlled    it 
from  the   beginning. 

How  many  of  these  lesser  bodies  were  de- 
tached from  time  to  time  from  the  cen- 
tral   mass,    or    whether    the    process    still 

nebulae. 

goes  on,  we  have  no  certain  means  of 
knowing,  nor  is  it  of  any  consequence  in  the  dis- 
cussion that   lies   before  us. 

In  process  of  time,  however,  the  vast  central 
body,  or  what  remained  of  it,  shapeless  and  dark 
at  first,  became  the  sun  that  gives  us  light  and 
heat  to-day — and  one  of  the  detached  portions  be- 
came the  solid  earth  on  which  we  live.  Our  first 
knowledge  of  the  earth,  then,  so  far  as  science 
is  able  to  lead  us  back,  is  that  of  a  nebula — a 
tenuous,  cloudy  mass,  embracing  in  an  intensely 
heated  state,  all  the  material  that  have  since  en- 
tered into  the  various  forms  of  rock  and  air  and 
soil    and   sea. 

It  may   seem   a   marvellous   thing   that   the   solid 

substance    of   this    earth    could    ever    have 

na  ogy  o     ^^^^^    .^    ^^^^    ^^^^^    ^^    ^    cloud   or   vapor, 

Steam. 

not  only  the  waters  and  the  soils,  but 
even  the  metallic  ores,  the  iron  and  the  gold,  and 
the  almost  imperishable  granite,  flint,  and  trap. 
But  we  need  not  go  far  to  prove  that  such  a 
thing  is  possible.  Take  a  piece  of  ice  at  dead  of 
winter,    and    few    things   seem    harder    or    more    un- 


PRIMEVAL    CHAOS.  II 

yielding;  subject  it  to  heat,  and  it  becomes  a 
fluid,  losing  all  its  shape  and  hardness.  Then  put 
that  water  into  the  boiler  oi  a  locomotive,  and 
as  the  train  moves  off,  a  white  cloud  streams 
away  like  a  snowy  banner.  What  is  it  ?  We  call 
it  steam.  It  is  the  same  substance  precisely  that 
was  ice  an  hour  before,  but  no  longer  solid  ice, 
or  liquid  water,  it  is  a  vapor.  If,  now,  instead  of 
allowing  the  steam  to  be  dissipated  in  the  air  we 
could  collect  it  in  a  cooling  vessel,  as  we  may 
from  the  spout  of  a  tea-kettle,  it  would  become 
water  again,  and  if  subjected  again  to  cold,  would 
assume  the  solid  form  in  which  we  found  it 
when  we  began  our  experiment.  And  thus  it  is 
proven  that  the  substance,  the  material  is  the 
same,  only  different  in  form  in  these  three  states. 
And,  now,  what  has  been  so  often  done  with 
water,  may  be  done  with  most  if  not  all  sub- 
stances of  which  we  have   any  knowledge. 

Matter  may  exjst  in  any  of  these  forms,  solid, 
liquid,    or    vapor.     Iron     may    be    melted, 

1  .  ,  1       r  ,1  T  1  Three   forms 

that    IS,    changed     from     the     solid     to    a       c      .. 

^  of  matter. 

liquid   State.     And,   as   in    the    case    of  ice 

changed     to    water,     it     needs     only     to     be     more 

highly  heated  to    become    a  vapor. 

And  the  same  may  be  said,  so  far  as  experi- 
ment has  been  made,  of  all  the  materials  of  rock 
and   ores   that  make   up   the  substance   of  the  earth 


12  THE    CREATION. 

Hence  we  conclude  that  the  nebula  of  which  the 
earth  was  made  embraced  all  these  materials,  so  dis- 
solved and  attenuated  by  heat,  there  was  no  more 
density  or  apparent  solidity  than  in  the  cloud  that 
floats  now  against  a  summer  sky.  Rather  unsub- 
stantial material  this  may  seem  to  make  a  world 
of,  in  which  mankind  are  to  live,  create  industries, 
and  build  their  monuments.  But  so  seems  the 
steam  as  it  streams  away  from  the  locomotive,  but 
which  in  a  very  short  time  may  be  ice   again. 

That  the  earth  was  once  heated  far  beyond  its 
present  temperature,  is  evident  from  the  fact  that 
many  of  the  hardest  rocks  are  simply  cooled 
masses  that  were  once  in  a  state  of  mobility.  It 
may  still  be  seen  how  they  boiled  up  and  over- 
flowed, and  ran  out  in  this  direction  and  in  that, 
like  heated  tar,  till  they  cooled  so  as  to  preserve 
their  shape.  Also,  melted  matter,  that  on  cooling 
assumes  the  character  of  rock,  is  still  thrown  out 
from  the  interior  of  the  earth  by  volcanoes,  so 
that  the  former  fluid  and  heated  condition  of  the 
earth  is  not  a  mere  theory,  it  proves  itself  to 
everyone  who  has  eyes   to  see. 

Again,    Astronomy    tells   us  that    our    globe    has 

Conclusions   '^^^^    form    at    present,    that    of    a    sphere 

from         depressed    at    the     poles,    that    would    be 

Astronomy.  ,  ,  •  n  i 

taken    by    a    mass    m   a    fluent    state    sub- 
jected to  such    conditions. 


PRIMEVAL    CHAOS.  1 3 

And  if  the  earth  was  once  heated  to  a  molten 
state,  it  only  required  a  higher  heat  to  reduce  it 
to  a  gaseous,  that  is  to  say,  a  nebulous  condition. 
And,  therefore,  the  nebular  theory  of  the  origin 
and  formation  of  the  earth,  is  not  only  every  way 
reasonable,  but  in  good  degree  absolutely  proven. 
Indeed  Prof.  Guyot,  in  a  paper  read  in  Septem- 
ber, 1874,  before  the  Evangelical  Alliance  in  New 
York,  stated  that  it  had  been  demonstrated  in  an 
exhaustive  mathematical  calculation,  by  Prof.  Alex- 
ander, of  Princeton.  Whether  finally  settled  or  not, 
this  may  at  present  be  regarded  as  the 
theory  of  science,  the  one  that  best  ex-  theory 
plains  the  known  facts. 

One  thing  more  we  must  notice  before  we  pass, 
to  indicate  the  changes  that  came  upon  this  neb- 
ula in  its  progress  toward  the  completion  of  the 
world. 

If  the  earth  came  originally  from  the  sun,  it 
must  be  that  the  material  in  the  two  are  xhe  earth 
the    same;    and    it    has    been    one   of    the  andsunsimi- 

lar  in  compo- 

latest    triumphs    of  science    to   prove  this  sition. 
fact — that    the    material    of   which    the    sun   is    com- 
posed,   and    the    substance    of    which    the    earth    is 
made,   are  one    and   the    same,   and    may,   therefore, 
well  have  come  from  a  common  laboratory. 

For  a  long  time  the  sun  defied  all  attempts  to 
analyze    its     substance.     We^  could   survey    its    sur- 


14  THE    CREATION. 

face,  and  note  its  movements,  but  what  its  com- 
position was,  was  a  matter  of  pure  conjecture.  But 
the  spectroscope  now  enables  us  to  determine  its 
substance,  even  more  accurately  than  the  telescope 
reveals   its    form   and    motions. 

The     spectroscope     is    an     instrument     invented 

some  twenty  years   ago,    by    two    German 

TheSpectro-     ^^^^^^^^^  ^t  Heidelberg."      It  consists  es- 

scope.  ^ 

sentially  of  a  series  of  prisms,  and  is 
used  to  determine  the  composition  of  a  substance 
by  the  bright  lines  in  its  spectrum.  Let  us  briefly 
explain.  It  has  long  been  known  that  white  light, 
as  the  clear  light  of  the  sun,  is  composed  of  seven 
colors— called  the  prismatic  colors— so  combined  as 
to  neutralize  each  other,  producing  white  light.  If 
a  ray  of  sunlight  be  passed  through  a  prism  and 
thrown  upon  a  screen,  the  colors  are  separated, 
and  so  separated  are  called  the  spectrum  of  the 
sun.  A  spectrum  may  also  be  produced  by  any 
other  kind  of  light. 

It    has    been   found    further,  that    while  a  heated 
solid    or  liquid    substance  produces  a  con- 
Spectrum      ^.j^^Q^g  spectrum— that    is,    one    in    which 

analysis. 

the  colors  are  closely  matched  together 
—that  a  heated  gas  or  vapor  produces  a  broken 
spectrum— that  is,  consisting  of  bright  bands  or 
lines  of  light,  separated  by  dark  intervening  spaces. 

*  Professors  Bunsen  and  Kirchoff,  1857. 


PRIMEVAL    CHAOS.  15 

Of  nearly  seventy  chemical  elements^'  known  tc 
exist  in  nature,  each  produces  a  spectrum  pecuHar 
to  itself,  and  therefore  the  composition  of  any 
substance  may  be  determined,  when  reduced  to  a 
vapor,  by  the  bright  lines  it  yields  in  the  spec- 
trum, by  the  number  of  those  lines,  or  by  the 
order  of  their  occurrence  with  reference  to  the  dark 
spaces    that    intervene. 

Now  the  sun  produces  all  kinds  of  light.  If, 
however,  a  vapor  of  any  kind  cross  the  path  of 
the  sun-ray — in  other  words,  if  the  ray  be  made 
to  pass  through  a  gaseous  substance — a  dark  band 
will  appear  in  the  spectrum,  and  in  that  part  of 
it  the  color  of  which  is  produced  by  the  like 
substance.  That  is  the  substance  absorbs  in  one 
condition   what   it   produces  in   another. 

The  application  of  spectrum  analysis  to  the  sun, 
therefore,  is  on   this  wise.     It  is  observed,  ^     ^ 

'  Spectrum  an- 

for  instance,  that  burning  sodium,  the  basis  aiysis applied 
of  common  salt,  produces  a  yellow  flame, 
and  that  in  the  spectrum  produced  by  such  flame, 
the  yellow  assumes  the  form  of  a  broad  bright 
band  in  a  particular  position ;  and  that  in  the  so- 
lar spectrum  this  bright  band  is  replaced  by  a  dark 

*  Prof.  J,  N.  Lockyer,  of  London,  on  the  strength  of  some  re- 
cent experiments,  ventures  the  suggestion  that  all  the  elements  may 
yet  be  found  reducible  to  the  single  element  Hydrogen.  The  theory 
lacks  confirmation,  and  seems  as  yet  to  command  little  or  no  coufi 
dence  among  scientific  men. 


i6 


THE    CREATION. 


band  of  corresponding  proportions.  Why  is  this  ? 
The  matter  is  easily  explained.  Any  element  will 
absorb  the  kind  of  light  it  produces.  If  the  color 
in  the  solar  spectrurh  is  absorbed,  it  must  be  by 
the  same  element  that  produces  it.  If  the  sodium 
band  is  absorbed — replaced  by  a  dark  band — it 
shows   the  presence   of  sodium   in   the   sun. 

The  same   rule  holds  good  of  other  substances.* 

Thallium     yields    a    green    band  ;     lithium    a    red 

,     band,  with  a    thin    orange    one ;    hydroo-en 

Spectra  of  '  fc>  J        ->'  & 

different  sub-  three  bands,  a  red,  a  green,  and  a  blue 
one.  And  so  on,  each  holding  in  every 
case  its  own  exact  position.  And  these  all  have 
their  corresponding  bands  in  the  spectrum  of  the 
sun;  whence  we  are  led,  rather  driven  to  the 
conclusion  that  all  these  substances  exist  in  the 
sun,   as   they   are  known   to  exist  in   the  earth. 

It   is    too  much,  as  yet,  to  say    all    the   elements 

Sun  and      found   in   one  appear   in  the   other,  for   in- 

Earth  identi-  yestic^ation  has    not    s^one  so  far ;    the    sci- 

cal  in  sub-  '='  "^ 

stance.  eucc  is  Comparatively  new.  But  sufficient 
has  been  learned  to  warrant  the  presumption  that 
the  earth  and  sun  are  identical  in  substance,  and 
without  any  reasonable  doubt  had  a  common  origin. 
By  this  method  of  analysis  we  not  only  learn 
of  what  material  the  sun  consists,  but  have  also  a 
very  certain    clue  as   to   its   condition. 

*  See  lithographic  chart  (frontispiece). 


PRIMEVAL    CHAOS.  1 7 

These    elements    show    their    colors    only    when 
heated.       We    must    hence    conclude    that 
the    sun,  which    shows    all    these  colors  so        ,    ^ 

'  the  Sun 

vividly,  is  in  a  highly  heated  state,  even 
if  we  had  not  sufficient  evidence  of  that  fact  from 
the  light  and  heat  that  we  obtain  from  the  sun. 
These  considerations,  some  of  which  are  of  quite 
recent  development,  are  regarded  in  the  scientific 
world  as  practically  settling  the  matter  that  the 
earth  was  once  a  nebula  that  came  from  the  sun. 
What,  then,  must  have  been  its  appearance  at  this 
early  date  ? 

It  is  easy  to  understand  that  when  all  space 
was  filled  with  this  vaporous  substance,  a  dense 
darkness  must  have  been  in  and  over  all — darkness 
was  on  the  face  of  the  deep,  or  the  abyss,  for  as 
yet  there  was  no  sun  or  moon  or  star,  as  they 
exist  to-day  ;  and  when  the  change  had  proceeded 
so  far  that  both  earth  and  sun  had  assumed  definite 
forms  and  motions,  even  approaching  a  solid  mass 
at  centre,  that  still  surrounded  by  a  deep  belt  ot 
vapor,  steam,  or  cloud,  there  would  be  no  light. 
Impenetrable*  darkness  would  hover  over  all,  until 
by  processes  at  first  unknown,  the  conditions  should 
be  gradually  modified  and  the  original  nebula  pass 
upon  that  series  of  changes  for  which  it  was  evi- 
dently destined,  and  through  which  it  is  passing 
still.       We    have    to    do  in    this    discourse,  however, 


I  o  THE    CREA  ITON. 

merely  with  tJie  beginning — that  chaos  out  of  which 
order  came. 

So  let  us,  in  closing,  mark  well  the  correspond- 
ence between  the  theory  of  Science  here- 
Conciusion.  in  set  fortli  and  the  opening  sentences  of 
the  book  of  Genesis. 

The  one  tells  us  of  a  nebulous  mass,  already 
yielding  obedience  to  the  plastic  touch  of  energy 
and  law,  already  preparing  for  a  grand  career  of 
development  into  forms  of  usefulness  and  beauty, 
but  enveloped  still  in  deep  clouds,  a  desolate  and 
shapeless  waste,  incapable  as  yet,  of  supporting  life. 
The  other  tells  us  that,  "  In  the  beginning  God 
created  the  heaven  and  the  earth,  and  the  earth 
was  without  form,  and  void ;  and  darkness  was 
upon  the  face  of  the  deep." 

The  correspondence  could  hardly  be  more  strik- 
ing or  complete. 


11 


Light. 


"  Let  there  be  light." 

'  Hail !  holy  light,  offspring  of  heaven,  first  born, 
Or  of  the  eternal  co-eternal  beam." 

"  They  say 
The  solid  earth  whereon  we  tread. 
In  tracts  of  fluent  heat  began." 

"  God  said,  *  Let  there  be  light.' 
Grim  darkness  felt  his  might, 
And  fled  away ; 

The  startled  seas  and  mountains  cold 
Shone  forth,  all  bright  in  blue  and  gold. 
And  cried,  '  'Tis  day  !  'Tis  day  ! '  " 


II. 

LIGHT. 

In  the  first  lecture  we  collected  the  material  of 
which  to  build  the  world,  and  so  far  as  we  were 
able  determined   its   origin. 

.    .  .    The  subject 

We  are  to  speak  now  of  the  Origm  ot        ^^^^^^_ 
Light,  with  special  reference  to  the  time  in 
the  order  of  creative  events    at    which   it    appeared. 

If,  to  dispose  of  that  matter  at  once,  we  turn 
to  the  account  in  the  book  of  Genesis,  we  find 
these  words  in  connection  with  the  first  mention 
of  the  subject  :  "  The  spirit  of  God  moved  upon 
the    face    of  the    waters.      And    God    said, 

..    ,       ,,    The  Hebrew 

Let  there  be  light  ;  and  there  was  light.  ^^^^^^_ 
Again,  a  brief,  concise  statement  of  the 
fact,  without  any  attempt  to  explain  the  processes 
by  which  it  was  done.  It  is  simply  that  the  great 
and  mighty  one  who  evoked  the  completed  world 
from  chaos,  did  at  this  point  cause  light  to  appear. 
It  would  not  be  in  place  here  to  speculate  as 
to  the  precise  meaning  of  the  passage,  "  The  spirit 
of  God  moved   on  the   deep."     The  word  translated 


22  THE   CREATION. 

spirit  is  sometimes  rendered  breath,  and  some- 
times wind  or  breeze,  so  that  there  is  opportunity 
for  speculation,  for  such  as  have  the  time  and  dis- 
position. /  We  prefer  rather  to  regard  the  passage 
simply  as  a  reverent  recognition  of  the  power  and 
wisdom  manifest  in  the  changes  that  came  by  de- 
grees over  the  dark  abysmal  depth,  since  these 
were  not  fortuitous  happenings  that  might  come  to 
something  or  might  come  to  nothing,  but  the  sys- 
tematic development  of  a  plan  devised  and  deter- 
mined before  the  work  began,  and  in  which,  there- 
fore, every  change  and  every  movement  contributed 
to  the  result  intended  from  the  first.  And  to  ex- 
press this  idea  in  brief,  no  words  could  be  more  fit- 
ting than  these.  The  Spirit  of  God  moved  upon  the 
chaotic  deep.  It  was  the  first  beating  of  nature's 
pulse,  "  the  first  throbbing  of  her  mighty  heart." 

Another  mention  is  made  of  light  farther  on  in 
this  account.  But  there  was  reason  for  the  wide 
separation  of  the  two  events,  which  will  appear  as 
we  proceed.  And  with  this  brief  statement  of  the 
ancient  Hebrew  record,  we  turn,  as  before,  to  an 
entirely   different  field   of  inquiry. 

What,    then,    has    Science    to    teach    us 

n-in  o       ^    ^^^^    oric^in    of    licfht    and    date    of    its 
Light.  ^  ^ 

appearance. 

First  of  all,  let  us   keep    in    mind    the   substance 

with  which  we  have  to  deal  and  of  which  we  spoke 


LIGHT.  23 

in  the  preceding  lecture.  Chaos  means  confusion. 
The  nebula  was  but  a  subtle  vapor.  As  yet  noth- 
ing had  assumed  definite  form  or  character.  There 
was  the  germ  of  worlds,  but  no  world.  There  were 
the  elements  of  water  and  air  and  light,  while  as 
yet  there  were  none  of  these,  none  of  the  chemical 
combinations  or  mechanical  unions  so  familiar  to  us 
now ;  and  the  various  changes  in  nature  that  we 
know  so  well  to-day,  had  not  begun.  There  was 
absolutely  nothing  but  the  dark  chaotic  deep.  But 
while  it  is  possible  to  conceive  of  the  original  nebula 
as  dark — for  dark  as  well  as  luminous  nebulae  still 
exist — we  cannot  suppose  it  continued  long  in  abso- 
lute darkness,  for  one  of  the  first  effects  of  chemical 
action  would  be  the  production  of  light,  though  that 
light  might  be  long  obscured  by  overlying  vapors. 
^'^''we  need  not  concern  ourselves  here  with  the 
nature  of  light — whether,  according  to  the 
older   physicists    it   is  luminous  matter  ra- 

^    ^  Light. 

diated    with    immense    velocity    from     the 
light-giving    body    or    centre,    or    according    to    the 
more   recent   and   probable   theory   that   it   is  merely 
the    undulations    of    a     universally    diffused     ether. 
Either  theory  will  answer  our  present   purpose. 

For    the    sake    of    convenience    in    this 
discussion    we    shall    speak    of    lia;ht    as   of        "^' 

^  ^  Solar  Light 

two  kinds,  cosmic  and  solar;  the  first  pro- 
duced   bv  chemical   action    in    the   nebula    itself,  the 


24  THE    CREATION. 

Other  coming  from  the  sun.  This  use  of  the  term, 
"  cosmic  "  may  be  open  to  criticism,  but  we  use  it 
for  want  of  a  better,  meaning  by  it  just  what  is 
stated,  Hght  caused  by  the  nebula  of  the  earth  it- 
self, after  it  was  thrown  off  from  the  greater  mass. 
It  may,  therefore,  be  called  earth  light  or  world 
light.  While  by  solar  light  is  meant  that  proceed- 
ing from   the  sun. 

And  now,  going  back  to  the  point  at  which  we 
left  the  incipient  earth  in  the  former  lecture,  let  us 
carefully  observe  what  changes  came  about.  We 
deal  now  with  the  earth  nebula,  leaving  for  the 
time,   all  the   others  out   of  the  account. 

There  is  a  dark  nebulous  mass,  some  two  thou- 
sand   times    as    great    in    diameter   as    the 

The  earth  a  ^  .in-  ,        , . 

nebula       P^^scnt  earth,  floating  or  wheelmg  its  am- 
ple  bulk   through   space. 
But   as  steam   does   not  remain  steam   long  after 
exposure    to    the    air,    but    changes    to    a 

The  nebula 


chanj 


ing-. 


denser  form  occupying  so  much  less 
space,  so  this  vast  vaporous  body  had 
not  proceeded  far  in  its  course  till  the  outer  por- 
tions began  to  condense,  or  change  toward  a  liquid 
and  then  a  solid  form,  by  which  operation,  of 
course,  the  mass  was  being  continually  reduced  in 
size.  The  heavier  particles  gradually  gathered  to- 
ward the  centre,  forming  the  nucleus  possibly  of  a 
solid    globe,   while    the    greater    part    still    remained. 


LIGHT.  25 

a  sort  of  cloudy  envelop  about  it.  But  while  the 
steam  from  the  locomotive  may  change  to  a  mist 
that  we  feel  upon  the  face,  or  fall  like  scattered 
rain-drops  on  the  ground,  leaving  their  imprint  in 
the  dust,  this  nebula  contains  not  merely  water 
reduced  to  steam,  but  all  the  elements  of  all  the 
material  that  now  enter  into  rock  and  soil,  in  the 
form  of  a  finely  attenuated  gas  or  vapor ;  and  these 
are  undergoing  a  change  from  their  present  to  a 
more  stable  condition.'  The  minute  atoms  of  iron 
are  uniting,  forming  larger  particles ;  the  atoms  of 
lime  are  combining,  and  so  on  through  a  long  list. 
And  as  this  process  goes  on  a  glow  comes 
over  the  mass  like  the  first  faint  dawnings 
of  the  day.     The   surface    of  the   body  is    ,.  ^  . 

^  •'  lighting  up. 

at    white  heat,    and    it   gives    forth    a   dim 
light. 

But  as  the  process  still  goes  on,  the  gathered 
particles  change  to  a  clear  red  color.  The  surface 
is  now  red-hot,  and  lights  up  all  the  space  around, 
and  the  earth  has  the  appearance  of  a  blazing 
star.  To  state  it  more  concisely,  the  earth  nebula 
is  a  blazing  star. 

This  is  what  we  have  called  cosmic  light — not 
coming  from  the  sun,  but  produced  by  the  earth 
itself  as  it  hung  like  a  brilliant  meteor  in  the  sky. 
Something  analagous  to  this  may  be  easily  wit- 
nessed. 


26  THE    CREATION. 

Go  into    a  blacksmith's   shop,    and   heat   a    piece 

of  iron  as  highly  as   can    be   done  with    a 

na  ogy  o    ^^^j^^j^  bellows.     It  comes  from  the  fire, 

heated  iron.  ' 

of  a  whitish  color,  emitting  an  indistinct 
glow,  not  unlike  the  aurora  or  the  dawn.  Wait  a 
moment,  and  at  a  different  temperature  it  changes 
to  red.  It  is  red-hot,  and  will  cast  a  glow  of  light 
far  out  into  the  night.  Such  was  the  change 
through  which  the  earth  nebula  passed,  from  a 
dark,  chaotic  state,  till  it  became  a  luminous  body, 
shining  with  its  own  light.  And  it  was  by  such 
means  the  fiat,  "  Let  there  be  light,"  was  first  an- 
swered and  obeyed. 

But   now  comes  another  important  change. 

To  extend  the  foregoing  illustration  :  if  you  ob- 
_,  ,      serve    the    iron    in    the    fors^e,    from    the 

The  earth  ^    ' 

becomes  brilliant  and  luminous  condition  of  red 
opaque.  j^gg^^^  j|.  soon  changes  to  a  dark  color  and 
becomes  opaque,  showing  no  light  at  all,  any  more 
than  if  it  were  cold  iron,  though  it  may  still  be 
somewhat  hot.  A  similar  change  passed  upon  the 
earth  ;  not  immediately,  for  the  larger  the  body 
the  longer  the  time  required  in  cooling.  But  in 
process  of  time  the  earth  became  dark  again  ;  for 
it  had  so  far  cooled,  and  the  matter  had  so  far 
condensed,  that  a  thin  crust  had  formed  all  around 
it,  on  the  same  principle  that  a  slag  will  form  on 
a   pot   of  melted    metal,    though    the    interior   may 


LIGHT.  2y 

remain  a  long  time  after  in  a  heated  and  even 
molten  condition.  A  bed  of  fresh  volcanic  lava, 
also,  will  retain  a  perceptible  degree  of  warmth 
for  many  years,  varying  according  to  its  thickness 
.  and   other  modifying  circumstances. 

Thus   we    trace    the    series    of    changes    through 
which    the    earth     passed  ;     from,     first,    a 
vast  ball  of  vapor  to  a  body   of  liquid  or       ^  p^o<^^ss 

■■•  y  T.  reviewed. 

molten  substance — emitting  first  the  glow 
of  white  heat  and  then  the  light  of  red  heat — and 
thence  to  a  globe  having  a  thin  crust  upon  it, 
and  so  beginning  to  assume  somewhat  the  ap- 
pearance and  character  of  the  modern  earth.  As 
the  process  continued  and  the  cooling  went  on, 
of  course  the  crust  grew  thicker  by  degrees  and 
more  substantial,  and  thus  was  it  fitted  at  length 
for  the  production  and  maintenance  of  life  in  its 
various   forms. 

We  are  not  yet  prepared,  however,  to  follow 
the  earth  in  its  development  of  soils  and  seas  and 
rocks  and  rivers,  for  there  are  other  matters  that 
must  be  considered  before  we  can  present  an  in- 
telligible view  of  the  creation  as  a  whole. 

We  have   to    do    in    this    chapter  especially  with 
Light.     We    have    spoken    of    light    as    of  Distinctions 
two    kinds,    and    it    is    important    that    we     °nd°^T^ 
keep  in   mind  the   distinction  between  the        ^ig:ht. 
two.     That  already   described  as  Cosmic   Light,   not 


28  THE    CREATION. 

light  from  a  foreign  body— not  reflected  light,  but 
that  produced  in  and  by  the  earth  itself  in  its 
progress  from  the  nebula  to  the  condition  of  a 
solid    or  encrusted   globe. 

We  have  now  to  speak  of  the  other  kind  of 
light,  of  far  more  practical  importance  as  it  seems 
to  us  to-day— Solar  Light,  that  coming  from  the 
sun. 

It  will  readily  occur  to  the  reader,  that  if  the 
nebula  out  of  which  the  earth  was  made  was  origi- 
nally from  the  sun,  or  if  all  the  substance  of  sun 
and  planets  was  once  one  nebulous  mass,  and  if,  as 
has  been  elsewhere  stated,  the  substance  of  the 
earth  and  sun  is  the  same,  it  is  reasonable  to  sup- 
pose the  sun  would  pass  through  a  series  of 
changes  similar  to  those   of  the   earth. 

And  that  is  even  so. 

As  the  earth  was  once  nebulous  and  dark,  so 
was     the    sun     once     nebulous     and    dark. 

Analogies  of 

sun  and       "  Darkness     was     upon     the     face     of    the 
^^^^^'        deep "    was    as    applicable    to    the    sun    as 
to   the    earth,  though    the    passage  quoted   probably 
had  reference   only  to  the  earth. 

The  analogy  between  the  earth  and  sun  may 
be  traced  still  farther.  As  the  earth,  by  the  earlier 
condensation  of  its  vapors  became  a  glowing  ball 
that  shot  out  rays  of  light  far  into  the  depths  of 
space,    sordid    the    sun    by    the    same    process    pre- 


LIGHT.  29 

cisely.  And  that  condition,  the  condition  in  which 
it  glows  by  its  own  light  and  sends  its  rays  afar,  is 
the  condition  in  which  the  sun  exists  to-day;  and  by 
virtue  of  which  it  supplies  light  and  heat,  to  what 
without  it   would  be  a  dark  if  not  a  frozen  world. 

It     required     a     much     longer     time     for     these 
chanp-es   to  pass  upon    the  sun  than  upon  ^^ 

^  ^  ^  ^  Changes  less 

the  earth,  for  the  sun  is  more  than  rapid  in  the 
twelve  hundred  thousand  times  larger 
than  the  earth  ;  and  the  time  required  to  work  im- 
portant changes  bears  some  proportion  to  the  bulk. 
But  the  great  luminary  passed  its  incipient  period 
of  darkness,  then  its  dawn  of  white  heat,  and  is 
now  in  the  condition  of  the  blazing  star. 

And    so    it    will    appear   that    the    two    kinds    of 
licrht,    designated  as  cosmic  and  solar,  are      _    ^.^     ^ 

i5       '  ^  Identity  of 

the     same    in    constitution  ;    that     is,    are    cosmic   and 

1-1  -1  1-1  solar   light. 

produced  from  like  material  and  m  the 
same  way ;  by  the  combustion  of  elements  that 
enter  into  sun  and  earth  alike.  And  the  two 
terms  are  used  merely  for  the  convenience  of  dis- 
tinction. The  period  of  cosmic  light  for  the  earth 
is  long  since  passed.  It  closed  with  the  first  for- 
mation of  a  crust  upon  the  globe,  unless  we  ex- 
cept the  tongues  of  flame  that  for  a  time  shot 
up  here  and  there  through  the  rifted  envelop. 
The  light  on  which  we  now  depend  is  borrowed 
from  the  sun. 


^ 


30  THE    CREATION. 

It   must   occur  to   the   thoughtful   reader    at    this 
point,    that    as    these    changes    are    slowly 

Interval        ^  '  ^  : 

between  the  wrought,  there  must  have  been  a  consid- 
erable lapse  of  time  between  the  appear- 
ance of  cosmic  light  and  that  of  solar  light.  A 
longer  time  was  required  for  the  sun  to  reach  its 
highly  luminous  condition,  by  reason  of  its  greater 
mass,  to  say  nothing  of  the  fact  that  the  over- 
lying vapors  of  the  encrusted  earth,  as  will  be 
explained  in  the  succeeding  chapter,  must  have 
long  obscured  the  solar  rays,  or  prevented  the  free 
access  of  the  sunlight   to  the   earth. 

It  is  worthy  of  particular  remark  that  the  He- 
brew record  so  represents  it  ;  the  one  event  being 
placed  in  the  first  day,  the  other  upon  the  fourth. 
We  have  no  means  at  command  for  any  definite 
calculation   of  the   period. 

We    might    dilate   to    almost   any    extent,  did    it 

come  within  the  purpose  of  this  discus- 
Offices  of  the      .  ^^  rn  r   .\ 

sion,   upon  the   omce   or  uses   01   the  sun  ; 

sun.  ^ 

not  only  as  the  promoter  of  life  and 
growth  and  organic  change,  but  considered  as  di- 
viding the  light  from  the  darkness,  serving  the 
purpose  of  a  time-keeper.  Without  this  provision 
we  should  have  no  definite  and  convenient  measure 
of  time.  Without  a  definite  chronology  consecu- 
tive history  would  be  hardly  possible.  And  with- 
out   history,    transmitted    experience    would    count 


LIGHT. 


for  nothing  in  the  economy  of  human  life.  Each 
generation  would  begin  untutored  by  the  past  ; 
there  would  be  Httle  or  no  progress,  and  any  high 
degree  of  civilization  would  be  beyond  the  reach 
of  man. 

The  sun  is  not  only  a  '*  luminary,"  but  marks 
off  ''  seasons,  days,  and  years,"  and  that  with  re- 
markable precision.  He  gives  us  now  the  light  of 
day,  and  again  leaves  us  in  the  darkness  of  the 
nieht.  He  brings,  moreover,  the  seed-time  and  har- 
vest,  and  the  various  seasons  of  the  year,  accord- 
ing as  he  is  near  or  far,  and  his  heat  falls  upon  us 
in   direct   or  slanting  rays. 

Such  wonderful  adaptation  of  means  to  ends, 
such  accurate  adjustment  of  the  forces  ^^^^^^^^^^ 
that   still  operate    in   the    world,   and  such    and  evident 

purpose. 

Studious  regard  for  the  approachmg  needs 
of  human  life,  may  well  command  our  devoutest 
admiration.  For  none  of  these  offices  of  the  sun, 
or  the  feebler  service  of  the  moon,  seem  to  have 
been  fortunate  accidents,  but  essential  parts  of  a 
complex,   an   elaborate,  a  divine  economy. 

Two  or  three  considerations,  not  belonging  es- 
sentially to  the  history  of  the  creation,  but  grow- 
in^  out  of  it,  claim  brief  attention  here  because  of 
their  bearing  on  the  general  subject.  We  are  pro- 
ceeding on  the  supposition  that  the  earth  was  once 
a    nebula    that    came    from    the    sun;    that    the  sun 


32  THE    CREATION. 

and  earth  are,  therefore,  of  one  substance  or  compo. 
sition ;  and  that  the  sun  is  undergoing  changes,  simi- 
lar to  those  that  have  already  passed  upon  the  earth. 
We    have    traced    the  history    of  the  earth   from 
,    the   condition    of  a  dark,   chaotic    mass  to 

Progress  of  ' 

our  discus-    that  of  a  glowing  orb  and  then  a  blazing 
sphere,  and  then   to   that   of  an  encrusted 
globe    shining   no   longer    by   its    own    but    by   bor- 
rowed  light. 

We  have  traced  the  history  of  the  sun  from 
the  same  original  condition,  through  the  same  series 
of  changes,  as  far  as  that  of  the  blazing  orb  that 
sends  its  light   and  heat  afar. 

Now,   since   the   earth    has  passed   through  these 

several    changes    by    reason    of    a   cooling 

cooiin    off    P^*^c^sS'    ^^^    radiation    of    its    heat     into 

space,    the     question    arises,    is    the    earth 

gradually  cooling    off,   so  that  by  and   by   it  can   no 

longer  support   life  ? 

Yes ;   that  is  the  plain  and  irresistible  conclusion. 
Have  we  any  proof  of  this,  aside    from   the  de- 
ductions of  a  theory  ? 
Yes.     It    is   this. 

The    other    planets    in    our    system,   with     their 
^  .^  satellites,    must   have    had    the    same    ori- 

Evidence 

from  other    gin    as    the    earth;    they    have    also    like 

motions;    and    it    is    every  way  reasonable 

to  suppose  they  are  passing  through  similar  changes. 


LIGHT.  33 

And  observation  and  experiment  indicate  that 
the  planets  Saturn  and  Jupiter,  very  much  larger 
than  the  earth,  are  not  yet  wholly  freed  from  their 
nebulous  surroundings ;  whence  we  conclude  they 
are   still  in   a  heated  state. 

Moreover,  since  the  difference  in  gravity  is  much 
less  than  the  difference  in  size,  it  must  be  these 
larger  planets  are  so  much  less  dense,  and  there- 
fore so  much  less  advanced  in  a  geological  sense 
than  the  earth.  They  are  relatively  "younger," 
that  is,  less  mature  than  the  earth.  Not  but  that 
thejr  origin  may  have  been  as  remote,  indeed  more 
remote,  since  they  are  farther  from  the  sun,  but 
that  their  greater  volume  makes  the  longer  time 
necessary  to  reach  the  same   condifion. 

While  on  the  other  hand  our  moon,  very  much 
smaller    than    the    earth,    is   already    cold,   „ 

'  -'  '    Present  con- 

through    and    through.      A   mere   skeleton  dition  of  the 
of  a  world,  scarred   with  storms   and    gap- 
ing with   craters   of  extinct    volcanoes,   but    without 
any  semblance  of  life. 

That  is  what  the  earth  is  coming  to  by  and 
by  ;  destined  not   to   burn   up,   but  to  freeze   out. 

This  may  be  a  startling  conclusion  ;  though, 
when  we  reflect  how  many  thousands  of  years  the 
earth  has  already  been  inhabited,  and  that  the 
crust  as  yet  may  not  exceed  a  hundred  miles  in 
thickness,  and  that  it  must  thicken  possibly  to  four 


34  THE    CREATION. 

thousand  miles  before  the  internal  fires  are  entirely 
out,  it  is  clear  there  is  no  immediate  occasion  for 
alarm. 

It  will  appear,  then,  that  Mr.  Hutton's  statement 
quoted  in  the  preceding  lecture,  that  "  Science 
finds  no  prospect  of  an  end  "  of  this  world,  was 
premature.  It  teaches  us,  on  the  contrary,  that  in 
the  natural  order  of  events  an  end  must  come  at 
length  to  the  existing  order  of  things  throughout 
the  material  universe.  But  it  is  not  of  the  end 
but  of  the  beginnings  of  the  world  we  are  es- 
pecially to  speak — the  passing  of  this  earth  from 
the  chaos  and  vacuity  in  which  it  began  to  a  con- 
dition  of  order,  harmony,  usefulness,   and   life. 

And  so  we  return  from  this  digression  to  mark, 
in  closing,  the  point  in  the  development  of  our 
subject    to    which   the    present   discussion   carries  us. 

The  appearance  of  the  sun  is  not  yet  reached 
^     ^   ^     in  the  resf"ular  order  of   events.     We  have 

Epoch  of  ^ 

the  sun's  ap-  spokcn  of  it  here  for  the  sake  of  unifying 

pearance.  .  r    i  •    i  i  i 

our  discussion  oi  light,  but  the  event  it- 
self occurred  at  a  later  period.  It  was  after  the 
establishment  of  the  firmament — after  the  gathering 
of  the  waters  into  the  sea — after  the  first  appear- 
ance of  dry  land  probably,  that  the  sun-light 
struggled  through  the  vapors  that  surrounded  the 
sun  upon  the  one  hand  and  shrouded  the  earth 
upon  the  other. 


LIGHT.  35 


Our  present  discussion  takes  us  only  to  the  first 
appearance    of    clear    light,  and    that    was 

"    Let  tllGTG 

not  from  the  sun.  The  skilful  chemist  ^^  jj^j^^  „ 
will  show  you  now  how,  by  the  combina- 
tion of  certain  simple  elements,  both  light  and 
heat  may  be  produced.  But  this  production  was 
not  dependent  on  man's  invention  or  discovery. 
Far  back  in  the  line  of  ages,  before  there  was  a 
man  upon  the  earth,  aye  before  there  was  any  solid 
earth  or  the  sun  in  yonder  heavens  had  begun  to 
shine,  the  principle  we  now  call  chemical  affinity, 
with  gravitation  and  various  forms  of  energy,  were 
created  and  set  at  work ;  and  out  of  the  diffused 
and  attenuated  material  that  swung  in  chaos  and 
disorder  and  black  night,  were  gathering  and  as- 
sorting and  combining  the  elements  in  due  har- 
mony and  proportion.  And  in  compliance  with  the 
divine  plan,  and  in  obedience  to  the  fiat  of  the 
Eternal,    "  Let   there  be  light,"  there  was  light. 


Ill 


The  Firmament, 
The  Sea  and  Dry  Land. 


"  And  God  made  the  firmament,  and  divided  the  waters  that 
were  under  the  firmament  from  the  waters  which  were  above  the 
firmament." 

"  The  mountains  huge  appear 
Emergent,  and  their  broad  bare  backs  upheave 
Into  the  clouds,  their  tops  ascend  the  sky. 
So  high  as  heaved  the  tumid  hills,  so  low 
Down  sunk  a  hollow  bottom,  broad  and  deep. 
Capacious  bed  of  waters." 


III. 


THE    FIRMAMENT,  AND  THE   GATHERING 
OF  THE  WATERS. 

We  are  now  to  speak  of  the  establishment  of 
the  firmament,  the  gathering  of  the  waters 

'  r    The  subject 

mto  the  sea,  and   the    first    appearance   ot        ^^^^^^ 
dry    land.        These    events    were    next    in 
order  after   the    first   formation  of  a  crust  upon  the 
earth.     It    was    the    point,  to  all  seeming,  at    which 
order  began  to  reign. 

The  period  of  dark  chaos  was  long  past.  The 
brooding  spirit  had  evoked  light  from  the 

,  ,         ,  The  situa- 

gradually     condensmg     nebula,     and     then         ^.^^^ 
the    blazing    star   had    given    place    to    an 
opaque  body  bearing  some  resemblance  to  the  earth 
as  it  exists  to-day. 

By  these  several  changes  the  earth  was  gradu- 
ally approaching  the  condition  for  which  it  was 
evidently  intended  from  the  first.  There  were  no 
accidents,  no  mere  fortunate  happenings.  They 
were  parts,  each  in  place,  of  the  plan  of  the  master 
mind  that   was  over    and  in  it  all.     And  the  forces, 


40  THE    CREATION. 

operating  then  and  operating  now,  which  we  call 
electricity,  gravitation,  and  the  like,  were  of  his 
creation-  and  his  appointment,  and  the  obedient  ser- 
vants of  his  will. 

After   the    breaking   up    of    the    original    nebula 
_,    .  into  the  several  parts  that  now   constitute 

The  inter- 
spaces       the  solar  system,  must  have  come  a  period 

of  gradual  separation.  Even  if  we  make 
no  account  of  the  force  .with  which  the  parts  were 
thrown  off,  but  suppose  each  disjoined  fragment,  in 
turn,  to  have  lain  immediately  without  the  slowly 
shrinking  central  nebula,  there  must  have  been 
gradually  widening  spaces  between  the  parts  suc- 
cessively thrown  off.  The  centre  of  the  earth  from 
the  centre  of  the  sun  is,  in  round  numbers,  ninety- 
three  million  miles.  Mercury,  thrown  off  later,  lies 
at  a  less  distance,  while  Jupiter,  thrown  off  much 
earlier,   is  at   a  much  greater  distance. 

As  these  separated  nebulae  condensed,  or 
changed  to  a  more  compact  form  by  the  opera- 
tion of  gravity  and  radiation,  the  distances  be- 
tween them  were  increased,  and  so  each  planet 
came  to  have  a  space  of  its  own  in  which  to  spin 
its  daily  round  and  make  its  annual  revolution. 
These  intervening  spaces  would  seem  thus  to  have 
been  left  unoccupied  by  any  visible  substance, 
making  a  vast  expanse  between  sun  and  planet, 
and    between  one  planet  and  another. 


THE  FIRMAMENT,  ETC,  4I 

And    here    we    approach    what    seems     to    have 
been  in    the  mind  of  the    writer  in   Gene- 
sis, when  he  penned  the  following  words  :  ^he record m 
"  And   God    made   the    firmament,  and  di- 
vided  the    waters    that    were    under    the    firmament 
from    the  waters  that  were  above  the  firmament." 

The  word  here  translated  "firmament"  is  from 
a  verb  that  is  said  to  mean  primarily  to 
*'  hammer  out,"  or  extend,  as  metal  may  ■fij.^iament 
be  drawn  out  into  a  thin  sheet,  and 
alludes  to  the  overarched  and  transparent  appear- 
ance of  the  sky.  But  the  word  is  also  rendered 
"  expanse "  and  sometimes  "  heavens,"  which 
means  simply  "  heaved  up."  Neither  of  these 
words,  as  we  use  them,  has  a  very  definite  mean- 
ing. We  speak  of  the  birds  flying  through  the 
heavens,  of  the  clouds  floating  in  the  heavens,  and 
of  the  stars  that  fill  the  heavens.  Of  course  there 
is  no  correspondence,  actual  or  implied,  between 
the  height  attained  by  the  birds,  the  clouds,  and 
the  stars.  And  the  word  expanse  is  scarcely  more 
definite,   since   it   means   merely  an   open   space. 

But  if  we  substitute  the  word  "  expanse,"  in 
the  passage  quoted,  for  firmament,  we  shall  get 
the  idea  more  near  the  literal  fact.  For  there  is 
a  separation  of  the  water-producing  cloud  from  the 
water-embracing  sea,  by  the  expanse  of  the  atmos- 
phere    between. 


42  THE   CREATION. 

But  let  US  trace  the  process  carefully  from  the 
time  evaporation  first  began  till  the  sep- 
tocTd!^^  aration  was  complete.  For  that  purpose 
we  go  back  to  the  condition  of  the  earth 
as  we  left  it  in  the  preceding  lecture.  It  had  just 
passed  through  the  "  ordeal  by  fire."  Frpm  a  blaz- 
ing meteor  in  the  sky  it  had  so  far  cooled  as  to 
assume  .  a  nearly  opaque  form  with  a  thin  crust 
surrounding  it  for  the  first  time.  But  the  heat 
within  was  still  so  great  that  the  crust  was  seamed 
and  rent  at  a  thousand  points,  whence  issued  jets 
of  steam  and  tongues  of  flame,  and  sometimes 
streams    of  liquid    matter. 

In  consequence,  the  atmosphere,  or  the  region 
about  the  earth  now  occupied  by  the  atmosphere, 
was  full  of  various  vapors.  The  waters  when 
formed  could  not  remain  water,  for  the  great 
heat  immediately  reduced  them  to  steam.  The 
steam  went  aloft,  formed  into  clouds — fell  in  tor- 
rents of  rain  upon  the  hissing  hot  surface  only  to 
be  immediately  revaporized  and  rise  again  in  a 
continual  round  ;  and  thus  the  earth  lay  imbedded 
in    a    sort    of  perpetual    London    fog. 

But  as  the  process  continued  and  the  crust 
grew  firmer,  the  outbreaks  from  within  became  less 
frequent.  And  the  crust  gradually  thickening  and 
cooling,  the  revaporizing  became  less  general.  The 
waters    falling  in  rain   found   here   and   there  a  spot 


THE  FIRMAMENT,  ETC.  43 

cool  enough  to  remain  upon,  and  thus  by  degrees 
the  atmosphere  was  cleared  of  vapors.  The  clouds 
rose  above,  the  seas  settled  beneath,  and  in  pro- 
cess of  time,  the  waters  that  were  above  the  ex- 
panse were  separated  from  the  waters  that  were 
under   the   expanse. 

We     should     here    recall    the     fact,     which    has 
before    been    stated,    that  the    earth    neb- 

,,       .  .    1       •  1       Substance  of 

ula  contamed  all  the  material  smce  gath-  j^e  nebula, 
ered  into  the  various  forms  that  nature 
assumes  in  rock  and  soil  and  sea.  And  while  the 
process  just  described  was  going  on,  the  heavier 
substances  tended  to  sink  and  gather  toward  the 
centre,  or  at  least  to  remain  within  the  crust  or 
flow  over  the  surface  in  volcanic  vents,  while  the 
more  volatile  substances,  including  the  various 
gases  with  which  we  are  familiar  to-day,  rose  and 
mingled    in    the    vaporous    surroundings. 

And   we    shall   find,   as  we   proceed  with  our  dis- 
cussion,   that    an    important     consideration 

The  atmos- 

in  the  preparation  of  the  earth  was  the  phere  clear- 
clearing  of  the  atmosphere  of  these  nox-  ^"^* 
ious  vapors.  Open  a  gas-jet  in  your  room ;  the 
gas  mingles  with  the  air,  without  changing  its  ap- 
pearance to  the  eye,  but  so  far  changing  its  char- 
acter as  to  make  it  first  offensive  to  the  smell, 
and  then  oppressive  to  the  lungs.  Now,  this  early 
atmosphere      that     which     enveloped     the     forming 


44  THE    CREATION. 

earth,  must  have  been  full  of  such  poisonous 
gases  ;  for  they  existed,  had  not  yet  been  ab- 
sorbed or  compacted  into  solid  material,  and  by 
reason  of  their  volatility  must  have  mingled  freely 
with  the  air.  Besides,  we  find  the  atmosphere 
about  the  craters  of  volcanoes  of  this  noxious  and 
oppressive  character  to-day  as  much  perhaps  as  it 
ever  was. 

'^  There  was  another  end  to  be  gained  by  this 
clearing  of  the  atmosphere,  first  of  mists  and 
then  of  volcanic  vapors,  besides  the  dividing  of 
the  waters  that  were  above  from  those  that  were 
beneath. 

The  world  was  being  prepared   for  the  abode    of 
life.     As    vet    no    form  of   life    could  exist 

The  earth  •' 

preparing  Upon  the  earth,  by  reason,  first  of  the 
heat,  and  second  of  the  poisonous  air. 
But  the  way  was  preparing,  for  to  that  end  was 
the  world  created.  Not  merely  as  a  wonderful  ex- 
periment with  nebulous  matter,  but  for  the  abode 
and  happiness  of  man.  Toward  this  result  had  all 
the  energies  involved  in  the  creation  been  mani- 
festly working  from  the  first.  And,  certainly, 
nothing  in  the  whole  progress  of  events  went 
farther  to  fit  the  earth  for  the  maintenance  of 
life,  than  the  establishment  of  a  clear  atmos- 
phere between  the  clouds  above  and  the  seas 
beneath. 


THE   FIRMAMENT,    ETC.  45 

We  pass  now  to  a  consideration  of  the  second 
topic  embraced   in   the  subject   of  the  lee-  .^ 

ture  :     the    gathering    of    the    waters   into     of  sea  and 

•  c        <^'^y  land. 

the   sea  and   the    consequent   appearnig  ot 
dry  land. 

After  the  clearing  of  the  expanse  about  the 
earth,  it  seems,  to  our  common  conception,  to  have 
assumed  at  once  a  more  definite  and  independent 
character  than  it  had  ever  had  before.  It  now  had 
the  appearance  for  the  first  time  of  a  solid  globe 
swinging  in  open  space.  But  it  must  be  kept  in 
mind  that  the  crust  as  yet  was  comparatively 
thin,  and  liable  to  rupture  at  frequent  intervals 
by  the  operation  of  the  giant  forces  as  yet  un- 
tamed within.  Geologists  sometimes  speak  of  the 
earth  as  passing  through  an  "  ordeal  by  fire,"  as 
described  in  the  last  lecture,  and  then  through  an 
"  ordeal  by  water." 

The   latter  came   about   in   this   way. 

When  the  crust  had  so  far  cooled  as  to  per- 
mit   water    to  lie    upon    it,    without    being 

.  .  The  ordeal 

immediately  converted  into  steam,  the  i^^  water, 
waters  that  now  constitute  the  sea  must 
have  covered  the  whole  surface  of  the  earth.  For 
the  surface,  as  yet,  was  comparatively  smooth,  and 
there  was  no  cause  for  the  water  to  stand  in  one 
place  or  flow  in  one  direction  rather  than  in 
another.      There    was,  therefore,  no    dry    land.      All 


46  THE    CREATION. 

was  sea.  But  this  was  not  to  continue.  The  im- 
prisoned forces  kept  in  action  by  the  heat  within 
the  crust,  here  and  there  broke  their  bounds,  burst 
through  to  the  surface.  And  as  the  volcanic  mat- 
ter ran  out,  the  water  very  Hkely  ran  in,  causing 
great  explosions.  We  have  an  example  of  the 
kind  in  comparatively  recent  history. 

A  submarine  volcano  broke  out  in  the  bed  of 
the  Mediterranean  Sea,  not  far  from 
Mount  ^tna,  and  for  a  time  there   was  a 

ruptures. 

lively  contest  between  the  fires  within 
and  the  waters  without.  But  the  sea  seemed  to 
have  most  resources  at  command  and  quenched  at 
length  the  volcanic   flames. 

But  these  explosions  in  the  early  crust  were 
to  work  important  changes  in  the  surface  of  the 
earth ;  changes  that  in  modified  form  and  degree 
are  still  going  on. 

Around  the  opening  formed  in  the  crust  the 
exuded  material  gathered  till  it  rose  quite  above 
the  general  level,  as  some  volcanoes  do  at  the 
present  day.  Mount  Vesuvius  is  little,  if  anything, 
more  than  an  accumulation  of  material  ejected 
from  the  interior  through  its  own  crater ;  a  refuse 
heap    of  volcanic   matter. 

Besides,  water  was  working  in  another  way  than 
that  of  merely  irritating  or  antagonizing  the  vol- 
canic forces. 


THE   FIRMAMENT,   ETC.  47 

The  seas,  which  at  this  time  covered  the  whole 
surface    of   the    ^lobe,  loaded    with    corro-     ^ 

*^  Corrosive 

sive  acids,  began  at  once  to   eat  into   and       action 

d,  1  ,  of  water, 

away  the  crust. 

And  the   waters   as    they   flowed,  bore    along-  the 

fine     dust     thus     formed     till     it     lodged 

against   the   incipient   mountain    about  the       ^°^^°^  i" 

•^  ^  currents. 

volcanic  rim,  or  some  other  obstruction 
that  presented  itself,  and  there  settled  as  a  fine 
mud  ;  and  warmed  by  the  crust  beneath,  and 
pressed  down  by  the  weight  of  waters  above,  grad- 
ually hardened,  till  it  became  a  part  of  the  rock 
or  crust  again.  This  was  the  beginning  of  sedi- 
mentary rocks,  that  now  form  much  the  greater 
portion  of  the  rocks  open  to  the  investigation  of 
the  geologist. 

And  as  this  operation  was  continually  repeated 
— the  acids  continually  corroding  the  surface,  and 
the  sea  continually  wearing  it  away,  and  the 
waters  continually  carrying  the  loose  and  fine  ma- 
terial till  it  found  a  lodgment — the  surface  was 
steadily   growing  more  and  more  uneven. 

We  may  suppose  that  wherever  there  was  a  vol- 
canic vent  made  by  the  imprisoned  forces,  with  the 
outfiow  cooling  round  it  and  the  sweepings  of  the 
ocean  heaped  upon  it,  or  against  it,  there  was  the 
beginning  of  a  hill  or  mountain  that  might  rise  to 
considerable    height    or  spread    over    a    wide  extent, 


48  THE    CREATION. 

according  to  the  time  occupied  and  the  energy  with 
which  the  forces  operated. 

But  it    was    not    in    this   way    that    the    principal 

Q^j^^^        inequahties  were   made    on  the    surface    of 

modifying:    the    earth.       The    highest    mountains    are 

agencies. 

not  made  up  of  volcanic  matter  ejected 
from  vents  within  themselves,  much  less  are  great 
mountain  chains  of  this  specific  character.  In 
other  words  volcanoes  are  not  the  chief  mountain 
builders. — We  must  seek  some  other  explanation. 
And   fortunately  it   is  not  hard  to   find. 

As  the  crust  thickened,  and  so  opposed  a 
greater  resistance  to  the  action  of  the  internal 
heat,  the  outbreaks  became  less  frequent ;  but  the 
seething,  boiling  sea  of  liquid  fire  within  was 
active  and  potent  as  ever,  and  sometimes  oper- 
ated with  such  tremendous  energy,  that  while  not 
breaking  through,  it  caused  a  grand  uplift  of  a 
wide  area  of  the  surface.  And  as  we  may  readily 
understand,  if  there  was  an  elevation  of  the  crust 
in  one  place,  there  would  be  a  correspondiiig  de- 
pression or  subsidence  in  another,  usually  in  the 
immediate  vicinity.  And  in  this  way  the  "  high 
places  and  low  places  of  the  earth  "  were  formed. 
The  waters,  which  till  now  had  spread  the  whole 
surface  over,  gathered  by  their  own  weight  into 
the  "  low  places "  and  formed  the  seas,  and  the 
dry    land    appeared. 


I  THE   FIRMAMENT,   ETC.  49 

That  this  theory  of  the  elevation  and  subsi- 
dence of  portions  of  the  earth's  crust  is  not  mere 
theory  is  sufficiently  proven  by  the  fact  that  the 
same  operation  is  going  on,  to  a  limited  extent,  to- 
day. 

At  the  old    town    of   Pozzuoli,  on    the   shore    of 
the   Bay    of  Naples,   a    few    miles    distant       ^      j^ 
only    from    Mount    Vesuvius,    stand    sev-     of  Jupiter 

,  .  Serapis. 

eral  marble  columns  on  a  marble  pave- 
ment of  what  was  once  a  pagan  temple,  built 
probably  before  the  time  of  Christ.  The  temple 
was  built  on  dry  land  ;  but  the  floor  or  pavement 
is  now  nine  feet  under  the  water  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean Sea.  Moreover,  the  columns  show  by  marks 
upon  them,  that  they  have  been  submerged  to  the 
height  of  twenty-three  feet.  Whence  we  infer  that 
the  land  there  subsided  or  sank  to  that  depth  and 
has  since  risen  again.  Indeed  it  is  apparent  within 
the  past  seven  years  that  there  is  still  an  upward 
movement,  and  it  is  by  no  means  improbable  that 
it  may  by  and  by,  regain  its  former  level.  Such 
oscillations,  or  alternate  elevations  and  subsidences 
are  by  no  means  rare  or  unfrequent  in  volcanic 
regions.  And  such  movements,  on  a  larger  scale, 
are  perceptible  on  some  continental  borders,  though 
the  rate  of  progress  is  usually  very  slow.  We 
mark  this,  then,  as  one  of  the  efficient  causes  of 
diversities   in    the    surface  of  the  earth. 


so  THE   CREATION.  • 

Since    we    touch    here    upon   it    we    may   as    well 
dispose  at    once    of  the  subject    of  moun- 

Mountain  .  ,  . 

making.      ^ain    making,    or    of  the    vast    inequalities 
of  surface  between  the  mountain  tops  and 
the  bottom  of  the  sea. 

When  the  crust  first  formed  upon  the  earth,  it 
was  a  larger  body  than  after  the  condensation  had 
proceeded  farther,  and  many  of  the  gases  had  es- 
caped or  entered  into  solid  forms  ;  and  therefore 
the  crust  was  larger  at  first,  and  afterward  shrunk 
to  meet  the  changed  requirements  of  the  case.  By 
this  shrinking  the  crust  or  envelop  became  wrin- 
kled ;  sunk  here  into  a  deep  trough,  and  rose  there 
in  a  huge  fold  that  we  call  a  mountain  chain. 

A  roast  apple  as  it  comes  from  the  oven  is 
plump  and  smooth,  but  as  it  cools  the  inside 
shrinks  and  the  skin  is  wrinkled.  A  very  similar 
operation  occurred  in  the  earth  as  it  changed  from 
a  highly  heated  state  to  a  condition  in  which  the 
crust,  at  least,  was  cool.  And  mountain  ranges  are 
often  nothing  more  nor  less  than  folds  in  the  crust, 
wrinkles  on  the  surface  of  the  earth. 

If  this  cause  seems  inadequate  to  produce  such 
effects,  we  have  only  to  consider  the  height  of 
mountains  in  comparison  with  the  diameter  of  the 
earth.  The  highest  mountains  rise  less  than  six 
miles  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  The  diameter  of 
the     earth    is,    in    round    numbers,    eight     thousand 


THE  FIRMAMENT,   ETC.  51 

miles.  Upon  an  artificial  globe  two  feet  in  diame- 
ter a  corresponding  elevation  would  not  exceed  the 
thickness   of  common  writing-paper. 

Another    cause    of   mountain    making,  of    which 
some  authors   make  much  account,  is  due 

roiding'  by 

to    the    gradual    accumulation    of  material   lateral pres- 

...        .  sure. 

along  a  certain  line  or  trough  till  the 
pressure  becomes  so  great  as  to  rupture  the  crust, 
when  the  surface  layers  are  squeezed  together  with 
such  tremendous  force  as  to  cause  them  to  assume 
a  crumpled  and  folded  position.  Such  is  supposed 
to  have  been  the  origin  of  that  portion  of  the  Ap- 
palachian chain  which  includes  the  coal  measures 
of  Pennsylvania. 

Here   our  discussion   might  properly   end. 

But    since    we    refer    from    time    to    time    to    the 
Hebrew    record    in    the    book    of    Genesis,        The  term 

,  .  r  J  u  day    in   the 

and  note  points  of  correspondence  be-  y^^qx^^x&c- 
tween  that  and  the  theory  we  are  de-  ord. 
veloping  from  independent  sources,  we  may  fairly 
be  required  to  offer  some  reasonable  interpretation 
of  the  oft-recurring  word  "  day,"  which  we  find  in 
the  passage,  "  The  evening  and  the  morning  were 
the  first  day,"  or,  as  it  is  more  accurately  rendered, 
"There  was  evening,  there  was  morning,  day  one," 
and  the  half-dozen  passages  of  like  import  that 
occur  in  this  primeval  account  of  the  creation. 
No   other  word    in   the    whole    account   has  been 


52  THE    CREATION. 

SO  much  discussed,  both  by  those  who  assert  and 
those  who  deny  the  authenticity  and  value  of  the 
record. 

The  most  obvious  interpretation  is,  that  it  is  a 
period   of  twenty-four   hours — a  solar  day. 

But  the  term  is  used  without  modification,  in  at 
least  three  different  senses  in  this  account  :  to  indi- 
cate light  as  distinguished  from  darkness,  without 
any  reference  to  duration  ;  then  in  the  passages 
above  named,  and  again  to  indicate  the  whole 
period  of  the  creation.  By  no  amount  of  ingeni- 
ous construction  can  these  three  terms  be  inter- 
preted alike.  We  must  seek  some  other  expla- 
nation. 

No  competent  critic  now,  so  far  as  we  know, 
regards  the  term  day  in  the  recurring  passages  as 
representing  a  solar  day,  a  period  of  twenty-four 
hours.  There  is  nothing  analogous  in  the  actual 
work  of  the  creation;  besides,  three  days  are  re- 
corded before  the  appearance  of  the  sun,  which 
alone  measures   and  makes  a  solar  day. 

The  attempt  to  correlate  the  "  days "  with  cer- 
tain periods  of  rock  formations,  as  the  Silurian,  the 
Devonian,  and  so  on,  is  equally  futile,  for  there  is 
no  evidence  in  the  rocks  that  there  was  any  cor- 
respondence in  point  of  time  between  these  differ- 
ent formations.  It  is  impracticable,  then,  to  assign 
any  definite  limit   to   the    term   day  in    the   Hebrew 


THE   FIRMAMENT,    ETC.  53 

record,    since    it    represents    no    exact   or    assignable 
duration. 

What,  then,  may  it  be  supposed  to  represent  ? 
Let   us  seek  that   which  best  explains  the   facts. 

Premising    that    the    passage,    "  There  was    even- 
ing,   there    was    morning,    day    one,"    and 
the     correspondino;     sentences,     constitute  ^^^^'  ^^^^^^'^ 

^  ^  '  theory. 

merely  a  poetical  refrain,  closing  the 
successive  measures  of  the  half-rhythmic  account, 
Prof.  Benjamin  Pierce,  some  years  ago,  suggested 
an  interpretation  which  has  the  merit  of  some- 
thing more  than  ingenious  novelty,  though  it  may 
not  precisely  represent  the  primary  meaning  of  the 
writer. 

The  theory  is  elaborated  with  some  detail  by 
Dr.  Thomas  Hill,  in  his  "  Natural  Sources  of  The- 
ology," namely,  that  the  term  is  not  a  measure 
of  time  or  space  at  all,  but  that  the  six  days  are 
''  logical  divisions  in  the  survey  of  the  universe," 
the  logical  order  of  thought  in  the  mind  of  the 
author  of  the  account.  As  if  it  were  written  "In 
the  first  place  there  was  light  ;  in  the  second  place 
a  firmament,  with  uplifted  mountains  and  depressed 
ocean  basins  ;  in  the  next  place  plants  appeared, 
and  then  the  sun,"  and  so  on,  following  the  record 
through  to   the   end. 

Viewed  in  this  light,  says  Dr.  Hill,  "all  the 
work  of  Ritter  and  Guyot,  all  the  arguments  of  the 


54  THE    CREATION. 

Bridgewater  Treatises  and  the  Graham  Lectures 
are  thus  foretold  in    these   brief  sentences." 

We  go  farther  than  Dr.  Hill,  and  say  the 
account  not  only  sets  forth  the  logical  order  of 
thought,  but  approximately  the  actual  order  of 
events."^     Let  us  see. 

I.  The  elements  in  chaotic  darkness  and  con- 
fusion,   followed    by   light    resulting    from 

Comparison        i  •       i 

of  data.      chemical    action. 

2.  The  separation  of  the  earth  and 
heavens  by  an  intervening  firmament,  together  with 
the  upheaval  of  mountains  and  corresponding  de- 
pression of  ocean  beds. 

3.  The  appearance  of  life  in  the  form  of  vegeta- 
tion, as  will  appear  in  the  next  lecture. 

4.  Appearance  of  the  sun.  If  the  theory  devel- 
oped in  the  second  lecture  be  correct,  this  occurred 
at  a  somewhat  advanced  stage  of  the  work.  There 
was  an  extended  lapse  between  the  appearance  of 
cosmic  and  solar  light,  though  we  have  no  means 
of  calculating  the  actual  or  even  probable  length 
of   the    period. 

5.  Appearance  of  the  animal  world. 

6.  The  appearance  of  man — and 

7.  If  you  please,  rest  from  the  work  of  creat- 
ing:  no  additions   having  been    made    to    the   forms 

*  Dr.  Hill  regards  this  as  one  of  the  secondary  meanings  that  may 
be  found  in  the  record  in  Genesis.     It  seems  to  us  primary. 


THE   FIRMAMENT,    ETC.  55 

of  life  since  the  introduction  of  man.  There  is  no 
intimation  here  of  weariness,  or  exhausted  power 
as  some  inconsiderately  assume.  The  Supreme 
Spirit  may  be  as  active  in  guiding  and  preserving 
what  he  created  as  he  was  in  the  act  of  creating. 
The  meaning  is,  simply,  that  at  this  point  he 
ceased    to   introduce    new    types    of   life. 

In  what  is  usually  called  a  second  account  of 
the  creation,  beginning  at  the  fourth  verse  of  the 
second  chapter,  the  order  of  the  first  is  reversed ; 
that  is  to  say,  the  order  of  time  is  not  ob- 
served. The  writer  begins  with  man  as  the  crown 
of  the  creation,  and  proceeds,  in  order,  to  those 
of  less  importance. 

The  reader  is  left  to  consider  all  the  facts,  to- 
gether with  the  suggestions  offered,  and  reach  his 
own    conclusion. 

We  return  now  from  this  digression,  to  mark, 
in  closing,  the  point  we  reach  in  the  de- 
velopment of  our  subject.  We  began  Conclusion, 
with  the  earth  as  it  emerged  from  the 
ordeal  by  fire  to  have  a  thin  crust  about  it,  but 
shrouded  still  in  a  bed  of  fog  and  noxious  gases. 
We  have  traced  its  progress  as  the  vaporous  sur- 
roundings gradually  cleared,  and  a  wide  expanse 
separated  the  clouds  that  were  above  from  the 
seas  that  were  beneath.  We  have  traced  it,  also, 
as  the  crust  thickened  and    volcanic  vents  gave  rise 


56  THE  CREATION. 

to  hills  and  mountains,  here  and  there.  And  then, 
as  the  crust  stiffened  and  grew  stronger,  so  that  it 
was  not  easily  broken,  the  imprisoned  forces,  like 
raging,  struggling  giants,  heaved  it  into  huge  folds 
here  and  depressed  it  into  deep  basins  there,  till 
the  seas  gathered  into  the  deep  places  of  the  earth, 
and    "  the  dry  land  appeared." 


IV, 


Plant  Life. 


"  Let  tlie  earth  bring  forth  grass,  the  herb  yielding  seed,  and 
the  fruit-tree  yielding  fruit  after  his  kind,  whose  seed  is  in  itself." 

"And  then 
The  vacant  hills  did  throb  with  life  ;  ai  d 
The  waiting  fields  put  on  parti-colored  robes, 
As  for  a  bridal  day." 


IV. 

THE   VEGETABLE    KINGDOM. 

We  are  to  speak   now  of  the  world  of  plants. 

In  the  preceding  lectures  we  traced  the  devel- 
opment of  the  earth  from  the  nebula,  through  the 
ordeal  by  fire,  and  the  ordeal  by  water,  till  it  as- 
sumed the  character  of  a  solid  globe,  or  a  globe 
with  solid  crust  upon  it,  with  continents  outlined 
and  seas  confined  within  certain  bounds ;  that  is, 
through   the    inorganic    and  lifeless   period. 

As  yet  nothing  had  an  organic  form  or  con- 
stitution.     There    is    no    organism    in    the       _,     . 

^  The  mor- 

cloud  or  nebula.     It    may  change   form  at  ganic  period 

of  the  earth. 

any  moment,  and  be  still  a  cloud  or 
nebula.  There  are  no  organic  parts  in  the  lava- 
bed  or  in  the  rocks  that  result  from  its  cooling. 
A  rock  may  be  broken  into  fragments  and  each 
fragment  be  still  a  rock.  And  so  in  the  creation, 
as  far  as  we  have  traced  it,  nothing  existed  with 
organs  and  parts  arranged  in  due  order  and  pro- 
portion and  for  specific   functions. 

We    come     now     to    the    organic     period,    when 


6o  THE   CREATION. 

matter  was    organized   for  the    introduction  and  sus- 
tenance of  life.     Organism  implies  life,  and 
The  organic  ^jthout  organism  there  can  be  no  life. 

period. 

But   before   proceeding  to    that   it    will 

be    expedient    to   notice    certain    changes    that    came 

over   the  "  dry  land  "  after  it  became  dry,  before  it 

could  support  life. 

The    continent,    as    it    emerged    from    the    water, 

through    diversities    in     the    surface,    was 
The  ^ 

processes  of  little  more  than  a  cinder,  or  at  most  a 
"^  '  volcanic  or  igneous  rock,  somewhat  like 
our  trap-rock,  but  more  like  the  beds  of  lava  now 
found  dried  and  hard  on  the  sides  of  our  volcanoes. 
Of  course  nothing  could  grow,  take  root,  or  find 
nourishment  in  this.  But  nature  spends  no  idle 
moments,  and  the  agencies  of  change  were  quickly 
at  their  work.  There  were  the  acids  in  the  rain 
and  in  the  air,  so  much  more  abundant  than  at 
present,  as  has  been  explained  before,  all  tending 
to  corrode  the  surface,  which  under  the  beatings 
of  the  storm  and  the  continual  agitation  of  the 
elements  soon  began  to  soften  and  crumble.  The 
same  process  in  a  modified  form  may  be  witnessed 
to-day  in  the  little  vineyards  and  gardens  of  the 
peasants  on  the  slopes  of  Mount  Vesuvius,  where 
the  lava-bed  is  no  sooner  cooled  than  it  begins  to 
fray  and  the  surface  to  disintegrate  till  a  soil  is 
formed  in  which  the  vine  will   take   root    and  grow, 


PLANT  LIFE.  6 1 

Much  of  the  material  thus  loosened,  or  set  free, 
was  borne  off  by  the  winds,  or  swept  down  by  the 
floods  and  deposited  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea, 
to  form  the  earliest  bed  of  sedimentary  rock,  or 
possibly,  by  refluent  wave,  to  be  spread  upon  the 
beach  again.  But  from  these  several  causes  there 
was  a  gradual  accumulation  of  this  material  upon 
the  land,  which  absorbing  the  moisture  and  dis- 
tilling the  subtle  gases,  at  length  formed  beds  of 
soil  in  preparation  for  the  seeds  and  plants  that 
were  next  in  the  order  of  creation. 

And  now,  the  earth  being  clothed  with  soil 
brings  us  to  the   first  introduction  of  life  upon  it. 

Whence  came  it  ? 

There  is  nothing  more  certain  than  that  there 
was  a  time  when  there    was    no  life    upon     Ljf^  j^  dif- 

the    earth.     Equally  certain  is    it    that  the    ferent  tem- 
peratures. 
earth    is    full  of    life    to-day.     We    do    not 

as  yet  know  through  what  range  of  temperature 
some  form  of  life  may  exist.  Some  plants  will 
grow  in  water  raised  almost  to  the  boiling  point, 
while  there  is  a  minute  fungus  that  flourishes  amid 
polar  snows,  where  the  temperature  is  rarely  above 
the  freezing  point.  And  still  it  is  a  conceded  im- 
possibility for  life  to  have  existed  in  the  nebula, 
or  in  the  molten  condition  of  the  earth  preceding 
the   formation   of  a  crust. 

Of  the  origin  of  life  upon   the   earth,  then,  what 


62  THE   CREATION. 

shall  we   say  ?     The  more  general  answer  will   be  in 

substance    this ;     that    at    this  juncture    in 

"^Hfe  °      ^^^^    progress    of    the    world,    the    Creator, 

of   his    own   purpose,    in    accordance    with 

his   own   plan,   and   by    his  Almighty   power,  created 

the    plants ;    that    is,   the    germs    out  of  which   they 

severally   grew. 

It    has    been    suggested    by    Mr.    Darwin,   whose 
name   and   services    entitle   his    opinion    to 

Darwin's  ,  ,  ,  - 

theory.       rnuch  rcspcct,  that  only  a  few  germs  were 
necessary    to    begin    with,    and    after    that, 
by  the  operation  of  natural  causes,  the  growth  went 
on   from   one  form  of  life  to   another. 

But   it   matters  really   very  little   which  view   we 
take.       Whether    the    original    germs    were     few    or 
many;  whether  placed   in   nature  at   one   time  or  at 
different    times,    the    absolute    necessity    for    a    first 
cause — a   creator — lies    back    of  it    as    much    in    one 
case    as   in    the    other.        The    question    is    not    lioiv 
many   germs,  or    at    what    time ;    but    whence    came 
they — by  whose  appointment,  and   by  what   power  ? 
And   even  if  we  venture  on  the  bold  suggestion 
of  Tyndall,   in  his  famous  Belfast  address, 
s^Lesdon.    ^y  which  the  equanimity  of  so  many  well- 
meaning    people    was    disturbed,    that    "  in 
matter  he  found   the  promise  and  potency  of  every 
form  and    quality  of  life,"  it    yet  remains  to  be  ex- 
plained   how   this    potency    came    there  ?     Who    put 


PLANT  LIFE.  63 

into  matter  the  promise  and  potency  of  life?  As 
the  same  author  says  on  another  occasion,  "Granted 
the  nebula  and  its  potential  life,  the  question 
whence  came  they  remains  to  baffle  and  bewilder 
us." 

This  subject  will  be  more  fully  considered  in  a 
subsequent  lecture.  For  the  present  we  content 
ourselves  with  the  conclusions  of  some  of  the  lead- 
ing authorities  in  the  scientific  world,  and  those 
from  whom  a  different  verdict  might  have  been 
expected,  if  one  were  tenable,  that  the  origin  of 
life  from  matter,  by  any  inherent  cause,  is  "  con- 
trary to  experience  and  observation,"  and  "  against 
all  the   analogy  of  current   nature." 

We  must  look  beyond  nature,  then,  for  the  ori- 
gin   O^  li^e.  The  cause 

If  before  proceeding  farther  we  turn  to    beyond 
the   book    of  Genesis    for  such  light   as   it 
may  give,   we  read,   "  And    God    said,   let  the    earth 
brins:    forth  crrass,   the    herb  yielding  seed, 

^  ^  r  ,.      The  Hebrew 

and  the  fruit-tree  yielding  fruit  after  his  record, 
kind,  whose  seed  is  in  itself.  And  it  was 
soy  Let  us  briefly  analyze  this  simple  statement. 
The  term  grass,  as  it  occurs  in  ancient  documents  is 
not  so  specific  as  with  us  to-day,  but  is  a  general 
term  for  the  simpler  forms  of  vegetable  life,  or  for 
a  new  and  tender  growth  of  any  kind  of  plants. 
The    word    corn  was    once    used    in    a    similar   way, 


na- 
ture. 


64  THE   CREATION. 

and  the  usage  is  not  yet  obsolete — to  indicate  all 
kinds  of  grain.  The  sons  of  Jacob  went  down  to 
Egypt  to  buy  corn,  when  as  yet  the  kind  of  grain 
now  so   designated  was  probably  unknown. 

With    this    distinction    in    mind    we    need    be   at 
no  loss  for  a  clear  interpretation  of  the  passage. 

And  now  let  us  observe  the  very  nice  distinc- 
tions made  in  this  first  paragraph  relating  to  life — 
and  we  are  sure  of  none  more  ancient  in  all  litera- 
ture— between  the  organic  and  the  inorganic  world, 
and  also  between  the  different  types  of  plants. 
*'  And  the  earth  brought  forth  grass,  and  herb 
yielding  seed."  There  is  no  seed  in  the  rock  o.r 
the  gas,  the  nebula  or  the  lava-bed,  that  you  can 
plant  and  raise  the  like  from.  These  belong  to 
the  inorganic  world.  But  when  matter  was  organ- 
ized in  the  herb,  then  a  seed  was  produced,  which 
being  planted  yields  the  like  again.  Further :'' And 
the  tree  yielding  fruit  after  his  kind,  whose  seed 
is  in  itself."  The  seed  of  the  fruit-tree  is  in  the 
fruit,  and  being  planted  will  produce  a  tree  of  the 
same  kind  as  that  on  which  it  grew.  Such  is  the 
brief  and  simple,  yet  very  comprehensive  story. 

What,  now,  may  we  learn  of  plant  life  from 
other  sources  ? 

The  botanist  will  give  us  a  far  more  elaborate 
statement,  with  a  much  longer  list  of  plants,  with 
their  divisions   and   subdivisions.     He  will  tell  us  of 


PLANT  LIFE.  65 

the    cryptogams    and    phsenogams,    of    the    acrogens 
and    exogens,    of     the     angiosperms     and 

,  Scientific 

gyninosperms,  all  of  which  terms  have  ^^^^^^^^^ 
definite  significations,  and  a  place  in  any 
concise  and  complete  history  of  plants.  But  we 
need  not  enter  into  all  this  detail.  We  requife 
only  a  simple  statement  of  the  most  obvious  char- 
acteristics of  plants,  with  such  distinctions  as  will 
appear  to  the  casual  observer  who  may  not  be 
skilled  in  scientific  lore. 

First,  a  general  division  may  be  made  into 
flowerless  and  flowering  plants  ;  a  distinction  that  is 
easily  marked  at  certain  stages  of  growth.  But 
that  is  hardly  specific  enough  for  our  "purpose. 
The  following  is  more  satisfactory,  and  for  our 
use  sufficiently  exact,  though  the  skilled  botanist 
would  require   more   detail. 

Plants  may  be  divided  into  three  general 
classes,  having  special  reference  to  their  modes  of 
growth. 

First.  Acrogens,  sometimes  though  not  very 
accurately  styled  ''top-growers.""^^ 

Second.  Endogens,  distinguished  as  "inside 
growers." 

Third.     Exogens,  or    "  outside   growers." 

*  For  the  sake  of  simplicity  and  to  avoid  multiplying  terms  all 
the  flowerless  plants  are  here  included  under  the  single  head  of 
Acrogens. 


66 


THE  creation: 


The    first    class     is     of     the    simplest    structure, 
with    tissue    chiefly    cellular,    and    includes 
Acrogens.     the     sca-wecds,     the      mosses,     the     ferns, 
ground    pines,  and    the    like.     These    have 
generally     an     upward      growth,     flourish     best     in 
swampy    and     retired     places,     and    seem     to    shun 
rather    than  seek    the    day,  as    if  the    sunlight    were 
an  intrusion   upon   their    secluded   existence.     More- 
over,  they  produce  no  seeds — only  a  spore,  that   is, 
a  simple  cellule,  without    the   store  of  album.en  and 
starch  around  it  that  makes  up  the  perfect  seed. 
The    Endogens,   '^  inside  growers,"   are   so    called 
because  their   growth  is  wholly  on  the  in- 
Endogens.     side.     They  have   no  proper  bark,  distinct 
from    the    interior    structure,    and    increase 
in    size    by  pushing    out    the   outer    layers    as    addi- 
tions   of    nutriment    are    made   within.     If    we    cut 
one  of  the   plants    across    we   shall    find    it   is    made 
up    of  a  great   number  of  separate  fibres,  imbedded 
in    a  sort   of  spongy  substance,  but   with  no  indica- 
tion  of  its  term   of  growth.     Familiar   examples  are 
the  corn,   rattan,    and   palm,    the    wayside  weed  and 
flowering    garden     plants.     These    differ     from     the 
first    class     not     only    in    structure     and     mode    of 
growth,    but    have    distinctly-formed    seeds.      They 
are    the    "  herbs   bearing    seeds." 

The     Exogens,    or    "outside     growers,"    are    so 
called    because    the    additions    in    growth    are    made 


PLANT  LIFE.  67 

each    season    on    the    outside  of  the    wood    and    im- 
mediately  under   the  bark.     If  we   take  a 
transverse   section  of  one  of  these,  freshly     Exogens. 
cut,  we    shall    be    able    to    distinguish    the 
divisions    in    the  woody   fibre  which  indicate  succes- 
sive years    of  growth,    and    thus   to    approximate  at 
least,  the  age    of  the    plant.     Familiar    examples    of 
this   class    are    the   oak,    apple,   pine,  and  most  fruit 
and    nut-growing   trees. 

What,   now,  of   the  order  of  succession  in  which 
these    several   classes    of  plants    appeared? 

It    would    be    most    natural    to     look     first     for 
those    of  simplest   structure,    the    plan    of 

.  -  1        The  rational 

nature  almost  uniformly  bemg  from  the  ^^^^^^ 
simple  to  the  more  complex.  We 
should  expect,  then,  first  to  find  the  Acrogens. 
The  Exogen  is  accounted  the  highest  type  of 
plant.  If,  then,  the  Endogen  is  the  intermediate, 
we  should  expect  that  to  appear  second  in  the 
order  of  time.  It  is  not  yet  definitely  settled, 
however,  that  it  did  so  appear.  The  Exogen 
seems  to    have   come    as    early,    if  not    before  it. 

But    as     the     existence     of    Exogens    implies   a 
warm     succeeded     by     a    cold     season — a 

.      Uncertain 

time    of    growth    succeeded    by    a  time    ot    conclusions. 
comparative   inaction — we   may  reasonably 
suppose,   if   the    year    was  so  divided    so    long    ago, 
that   the   Endo^ens    growing    in    summer  may   have 


68  THE    CREATION. 

perished  in  the  winter.  Many  of  them  are  annual 
plants  to-day.  The  growth  of  one  year  decays  and 
disappears,  and  is  succeeded  the  following  season 
by  an  entire  new  growth.  Therefore,  the  non-ap- 
pearance of  traces  of  Endogens  in  the  earlier  ages 
does  not  of  necessity  imply  their  non-existence  at 
the  time.  We  can  only  say,  in  such  case,  the 
record  may    not    be  complete. 

But  what  are  the  indications  from  such  record 
as  we  have?  How  are  we  to  decide  which  type  of 
plants  came  first,  or  if  all  appeared    simultaneously? 

Let    us    see. 

Iji  the  various  beds  of  rock  built  up  on  the 
earth's  crust,  since  the  dry  land  first  ap- 
ofthlXs^iis  pe^i'^d  and  began  to  crumble  and  wash 
away  into  the  sea  to  be  there  pressed 
and  hardened  into  rocks,  are  found  fossils — that  is, 
remains  of  plants  and  animals  that  have  lived  and 
died.  Sometimes  it  is  a  bone,  sometimes  a  shell, 
and  again  a  stem  or  leaf;  sometimes  with  natural 
form  still  complete,  but  with  substance  assimilated 
to  that  of  the  rock  ;  and  again  only  an  impres- 
sion of  its  form  remains. 

In  whatever  stratum  they  are  found  geologists 
are  in  the  habit  of  saying,  "  This  plant,  or  this 
animal,  lived  and  died  when  this  rock  was  form- 
ing. When  dead,  it  was  swept  by  some  current  of 
wind    or    water    into    the   bed    of  silt    or    sand    then 


PLANT  LIFE.  69 

gathering  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  lake,  or  river  ; 
that  mud  or  sand,  when  in  process  of  time  it 
became  rock,  was  its  tomb  ;  and  when  later  the 
rock  was  unearthed  and  broken,  the  fossil  appeared 
to  give  us  hints  of  the  types  of  life  that  existed 
on  the  earth  so  long  ago." 

Now,  the  fossil  plants    found    earliest,  or   at    the 
remotest  period  from  the  present,  in  the       _   ,. 

^  Earliest 

rocks,  are  all  of  the  first  or  lowest  class  plants,  Marine 
of  plants,  so    far  as  it    is  possible  to  dis-  cogens. 

tinguish  them,  and  chiefly  if  not  wholly  of  the 
character  of  marine  algce,  or  sea-weeds.  And  it  is 
quite  certain  that  the  earliest  life  of  both -plants 
and   animals  was   in   the   sea. 

The  plants  of  simplest  structure,  and  which  we 
have  designated  as  ''top-growers,"  came  first,  in 
accordance  with  the  theory  above  laid  down. 
Then  we  must  pass  through  a  considerable  depth 
of  rock,  coming  toward  the  surface  and  represent- 
ing, of  course,  a  vast  period  of  time,  before  we 
can  certainly  identify  a  single  specimen  of  the 
higher  types   of  plants. 

The  Acrogens  increased  in  numbers,  variety,  and 
size    with    each    succeeding;  a^e,    coveringr    „  ,    .    ,. 

^       ^    '  ^    Culmination 

the    land    at    length    and    encroaching    on  of 

Acrogens. 

the   shallow  margms    of   the  sea.     Among 
the  ferns,  of  which  a  few   species    now   crouch  tim- 
idly  in    shady  nooks,  were   those  of  great  size  and 


70  THE    CREATION. 

almost    numberless   varieties,    and    the    club    mosses 

attained     the     dimensions    of    forest    trees.      There 

were  giants  in  those  days  in  the  world  of  plants. 

In   the  coal  period,  the  wide  reaches  of  swampy 

land — for     there    were     as    yet     i^-sN     hieh 

The  coal  ,         ,  ^  ^ 

plants.  •^^I'^ds — were  covered  with  a  deep,  profuse, 
and  tangled  growth  of  stalwart  plants 
chiefly  of  the  first  class,  Acrogens.  And  it  is  to 
the  vast  accumulation  of  these,  under  long-con- 
tinued heat  and  pressure,  that  we  are  indebted  for 
the  coal  beds  for  which  we  now  find  so  abundant 
use.  The  coal  fields  were  stocked  against  a  time 
of  need ;  when  the  forests  should  fail  in  part  and 
man  be  compelled  to  look  elsewhere  for  material 
to  keep  his  fires  burning. 

It    has    before    been    stated    that    at    this    early 

Condition     P^^'iod    the    atmosphere    was   full    of  nox- 

of  the  early  ious  gascs.      According   to   Prof    Tyndall, 

atmosphere. 

the  air  was  so  saturated  with  carbonic 
acid,  that  it  obstructed  radiation  from  the  earth  al- 
most as  effectually  as  a  glass  roof:  the  earth  thus 
became  a  sort  of  conservatory  or  hot-house,  and 
therefore  plants  grew  to  enormous  size.  But  if  this 
was  the  cause  of  the  large  growth  of  plants,  it  is 
evident  that  as  the  atmosphere  cleared  of  this  acid 
the  plants  must  have  appeared  of  reduced  size. 
Not  only  so,  but  a  radical  change  occurred  in  the 
character    of    the    plant    world.     To    the    Acrogens 


PLANT  LIFE.  7^ 

were   clearly   added    Endogens    and    Exogens,    both 
of  which  were  unknown  in  the  earlier   ages. 

The  change  was  not  abrupt,  but  gradual — some 
types  of  exogenous  plants  appearing  as  ^pp^^^^^^^ 
far    back    as    the  coal   period,    or   possibly  of  the  higher 

, , ,         plants. 

the    Devonian    age;    but    it    was    not    till 
comparatively     recent     times     that     the      "  outside 
growers,"    the  oak,   the    elm,    hickory,    and   the    like 
became   the   chief  features    of  the   landscape. 

And  so  it  appears,  as  far  as  the  fossils  enable 
us  to  decide,  that  the  order  of  occurrence  of  the 
different  classes  of  plants,  were,  first,  those  of  sim- 
plest structure,  flowerless  and  seedless;  second,  those 
producing  flower  and  seed,  and  lastly,  the  fruit  and 
nut-growing  trees.  In  other  words  the  testimony 
of  the  rocks  bears  out  the  theory  suggested  above, 
that  the  order  of  appearance  of  the  different  types 
of  plants  was  from  the  lowest  type  and  simplest 
structure  to   the   higher  and  more  complex. 

We  thus  reach  the  conclusion  of  our  topic 
proper.  But  one  or  two  questions  may  arise 
which  it  will  be  well  to  answer  lest  they  leave  us 
in    some   confusion. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  earlier  plants  rather 
shun  than  seek  the  sunlight.     And  if  our     Relation  of 

f.     .  sunlight     to 

theory  of  the  gradual  approach  of  the  sun  early  vegeta- 
from    a   dark  nebula   to   its    present  condi-  ^ion. 
tion,    as   developed   in  a   former  lecture,  be   correct, 


'J 2  THE   CREATION, 

the  appearance  of  plants  before  the  appearance  of 
the  sun  is  every  way  probable.  The  earlier  plants 
required  moisture  and  fed  on  matter  dissolved  by 
acids,  of  which  there  was  great  abundance,  but  did 
not  to  the  same  extent  depend  on  light.  And  we 
are,  therefore,  warranted  in  assuming  that  in  the 
order  of  the  creation,  plants  may  have  appeared 
before  the  atmosphere  was  so  far  freed  from  clouds 
and  vapors  as    that    the  sun  appeared. 

Another  question  follows. 

Were  all  the  types  of  plants  introduced  in  this 
early    and    obscure    period — the    Acrocren, 

First  appear-  "^  ■"•  o       ' 

ance  of  differ-  Endogen,  and  Exogen?  By  no  means. 
The  answer  is  readily  inferred  from  what 
has  been  said  before.  By  "the  introduction  of 
plant  life  "  is  meant  simply  the  first  appearance  of 
any  kind  of  plants  upon  the  earth.  The  different 
types  followed  each  other  at  somewhat  uncertain 
intervals.  The  time  cannot  be  definitely  stated. 
We  may  not  be  able  to  determine  the  precise  point 
at  which  any  particular  type  made  its  first  appear- 
ance. We  can  only  judge  by  the  period  of  its 
culmination,  and  that  can  be  determined  with 
little  difficulty  by  reason  of  the  abundant  traces 
left  in  the   rocks. 

The  subject  of  plant  life  in  the  Hebrew  record 
is  disposed  of  in  a  single  paragraph,  for  that 
account    can  be    taken    at    best    only  as    announcing 


PLANT  LIFE.  73 

in  the  fewest  words  the  several  divisions  and  im- 
portant steps  in  the  order  of  creation.  We  can- 
not suppose,  however,  the  appearance  of  the  differ- 
ent kinds  of  plants  there  briefly  described,  to  have 
come  in  any  single  period  of  the  world's  history — 
only  that  at  this  point  the  first  of  plants  ap- 
peared. 

One  point  more,  having  some  relation  to  the 
next  lecture.  Plant  life  is  represented  as  ^^^^^^  ^^^^ 
preceding  animal   life.     The  truth   is    that       before 

^  ,  .  -         .         1  r  1  r  animals. 

fossil  remams  of  animals  are   tound  as   tar 
back   as    those    of  plants.     But  there   are   good   rea- 
sons   for   supposing   them    to    have    been    a   subse- 
quent   creation.      Two    or    three    reasons    may    be 
briefly   stated. 

1.  Plants  will  thrive  in  an  atmosphere  too 
highly  charged  with  noxious  gases,  and  probably 
in  water  too  highly  heated,  for  the  maintenance 
of  animal  life.  And  one  office  of  early  vegetation 
probably  was  to  absorb  the  gases  and  clear  the 
atmosphere  for  animal  respiration.  Plants  can  live 
where   animals    cannot. 

2.  Plants  are  the  natural  food  of  animals. 
Plants  feed  chiefly  on  inorganic  matter ;  animals 
on  organic.  There  are  exceptions  to  this  rule. 
Some  plants  consume  organic  matter.  The  mistle- 
toe, indian-pipe,  and  other  parasites  derive  their 
substance      almost      entirely     from     the     plants     to 


74  THE   CREATION.      ' 

which  they  are  attached.  A  few  plants  also  feed 
on  animals.  The  Sundew  for  instance  and  the 
Venus'-flytrap  capture  insects  and  appropriate 
them  to  their  own  sustenance.  But  these  excep- 
tions are  of  comparatively  small  importance.  It 
may  be  accepted  as  the  general  rule,  that  plants 
can  live  without  animals;  animals  cannot  thrive 
without  plants.  The  conclusion  follows,  therefore, 
that  the  first  appearance  of  plants  came  before 
that  of  animals.  The  animal  kingdom  was  the 
later   creation. 

Still  more  conclusive  reasons  for  this  statement 
will  be  assigned  when  we  come  to  read  the  geo- 
logical   record  in  the  sixth    lecture. 


V. 


Animal  Life. 


"  Let  the  waters  bring  forth  abundantly  the  moving  creature 
that  hath  life,  and  fowl  that  may  rly  above  the  earth  in  the  open 
firmament  of  heaven.  And  ...  let  the  earth  bring  forth  the 
living  creature  after  his  kind." 

"  See  through  this  air,  this  ocean,  and  this  earth, 
All  matter  quick  and  bursting  into  birth. 
Above,  how  high  !  progressive  life  may  go  ! 
Around,  how  wide  !  how  deep  extend  below  !  " 


V. 

ANIMAL    LIFE. 

Our   subject   is   the  Animal   Kingdom. 

In   tracing  the  history   of  the   creation   thus   far, 
it  must   be   obvious   to  every  one  that  the 
order    has    been   constantly    from    a    lower      ^^^^^^^  ^° 

•^  nature. 

toward  a  higher  condition.  A  notable 
illustration  may  be  found  in  the  change  from  in- 
organic nature  to  a  state  of  organism  and  life. 
The  same  fact  appeared  in  the  last  lecture  in  the 
history  of  plant  life  ;  beginning  with  plants  of 
spongy  texture  and  the  simplest  structure,  pass- 
ing through  the  herbs  bearing  flower  and  seeds, 
and  culminating  in  the  fruit  and  nut-growing  trees. 
The  orderly  development  thus  traced  will  be  found 
no  less  discernible  in  the  animal  kingdom.  It  is 
on  such  facts  as  these  that  Mr.  Darwin  and  others 
base   the  doctrine   of  Evolution. 

And    to  the   doctrine  of   Evolution,    as  The  doctrine 

of 

the    development    of    an    order    and    the     Evolution. 

unfolding  of  a   plan    in    nature,  there    can 

be  no  reasonable  objection.     We   frankly    confess    it 


78  THE    CREATION, 

seems  to  us  written  on  the  face  and  stamped  in 
the  very  nature  of  things. 

But  as  Kingsley  has  well  said,  "  If  there  has 
been  an  evolution  there  must  have  been  an  evolv- 
er."  We  cannot  predicate  or  anticipate  an  order 
without  an  ordainer.  There  must  have  been  an 
intelligent  power  back  of  it  to  devise  the  scheme 
and  at  least  set  the  train  on  its  way.  We  cannot 
conceive  of  harmony  and  order  as  a  necessary  or 
even  possible  outgrowth  of  chaos  and  blind  con- 
fusion. With  intelligence  and  power  all  else  is 
possible  ;  without  these  nothing  is  certain.  And  if 
we  say  lazv  regulates  and  controls  the  processes  in 
nature,  the  question  merely  changes  form ;  whence 
came  the  law  ?  Nothing  is  explained  by  the  mere 
substitution  of  a  word. 

Moreover,  it  is  not  true,  as  some  have  assumed, 
that     Darwin     denies    the    existence    of    a 

Darwin's        /->         ,  -  r  i   • 

theism  Creator,  as  one  or  two  passages  from  his 
published  writings  will  sufficiently  indi- 
cate. *' To  my  mind,"  says  he,  ''it  accords  better 
with  what  we  know  of  the  laws  impressed  on  mat- 
ter by  the  Creator,  that  the  production  and  ex- 
tinction of  the  past  and  present  inhabitants  of  the 
world  should  have  been  due  to  secondary  causes, 
than  that  each  species  has  been  independently  cre- 
ated." And  again,  from  his  ORIGIN  OF  SPECIES: 
"  There   is    grandeur    in    this    view    of    life,    with    its 


ANIMAL   LIFE.  79 

several  powers,  having  been  originally  breathed  by 
the  Creator  into  a  few  forms  or  into  one ;  and 
that  while  this  planet  has  gone  cycling  on  accord- 
ing to  the  fixed  laws  of  gravity,  from  so  simple  a 
beginning,  endless  forms,  most  beautiful  and  most 
wonderful,   have  been  and   are   being  evolved." 

He    has    great    faith,  that    after  life   was   started 
on   the   earth  there   were    sufficient    causes 

,     .  r    '         11    .1  Causes  in 

in  nature  to  brmg  out  of  it  all  the  sue-  ^^^^^.^ 
cessive  types  and  orders.  He  does  not 
claim  that  this  has  been  demonstrated  or  that  it 
can  be  conclusively  proven,  on  account  of  the  great 
number  of  "missing  links"  in  the  chain  of  devel- 
opment. But  he  assumes  that  because  these  links 
cannot  now  be  found,  it  does  not,  of  necessity, 
follow  that  they  never  existed.  That  may  be  true. 
But  until  some  clear  traces  of  such  links  can  be 
found  the  assumption  that  they  ever  existed  is 
mere  supposition  or  hypothesis  and  not  established 
science. 

Prof.  Huxley,  in  his  New  York  lectures  in   1877, 
attached    much    importance    to   the   series 

•^  1     •  r        Missing 

of  fossils    recently   discovered    m  some    ot        ^^^^^^ 
our    western     territories     by     Prof    O.    C. 
Marsh,    because,    beginning    with    a    remote    resem- 
blani^    to    the    horse,  they  gradually    changed    to    a 
very  close    resemblance,  and   so   went   far  to  fill  up 
a  hitherto  wide  hiatus  in  the  chain  of  development. 


80  THE    CREATION. 

But  if  every  break  in  the  chain  were  filled,  the 
question  of  the  origin  of  life  would  still  remain. 

There   are,   indeed,   two    separate   ques- 

questions  in-      tions    involved  I 

First,  the  origin  of  life. 

Second,  the  method  of  its  transmission. 

Prof.  Mivart  assumes,  and  we  think  rightly,  that 
with  the  first,  physical  science  has  nothing  to  do, 
and  is  incompetent  to  deal.  Nevertheless  we  are 
not    forbidden    to    inquire. 

There  are  two  principal  theories,  with  various 
modifications    of  each. 

1.  The  germ  theory;  that  is,  that  all  life  pro- 
ceeds from  an  antecedent  form  of  life — and  which 
implies    a    creator. 

2.  The  theory  of  spontaneous  generation,  that  is, 
that  life  is  evolved  from  dead  matter,  in  certain 
conditions,  without  the  aid  or  operation  of  any- 
thing   beyond   itself. 

The  latter  theory  is  by  no  means  new.  Cen- 
turies ago  it  was  believed  that  tadpoles  were  gen- 
erated out  of  the  mud  along  the  borders  of  stag- 
nant pools,  by  the  vivifying  action  of  the  sun  ; 
caterpillars  from  the  leaves  on  which  they  fed,  and 
eels  from  the  oozy  slime  of  the  Nile.  And  the 
hypothesis,  in  one  form  or  another,  has  been  re- 
vived or  restated  many  times  since  the  period  of 
early   Greek   history. 


ANIMAL   LIFE.  8 1 

The  question  has  been  very  fully  discussed  re- 
cently, and  with  the  aid  of  elaborate  ex-  Spontaneous 
periments,  by  Profs.  Tyndall  and  H.  C.  (f^^Xuand 
Bastian,  but  with  widely  differing  results.  Bastian.) 
To  reach  any  definite  conclusion  and  make  the  test 
satisfactory  it  was  agreed  to  take  dead  matter — 
isolate  it  from  all  contact  with  life — place  it  under 
favorable  conditions  for  the  development  of  life,  if 
such  thing  were  possible,  and  await  the  result.  The 
experiment  was  a  difficult  one,  but  followed  out 
with  faithful  detail  by  both  experimenters.  The 
material  used  was  chiefly  a  Hquid  containing  an  in- 
fusion of  hay,  bits  of  cheese,  or  other  organic  sub- 
stance. This  was  put  in  a  bottle  and  brought  to 
the  boiling  point,  to  destroy  whatever  germs  it 
might  contain — the  bottle  then  hermetically  sealed 
to  protect  the  liquid  from  all  possible  contact  with 
surrounding  life,  and  left  in  a  moderately  warm 
temperature  for  several  days.  If  at  the  end  of 
the  time  the  liquid  showed  signs  of  fermentation 
or  putrefaction,  it  was  taken  as  an  indication  of 
life  ;  if  no  such  signs  appeared,  it  was  regarded  as 
absolutely  sterile. 

A  great  number  of  tests  were  made.  But  the 
result,  thus  far,  seems  to  have  been  to  array  these 
eminent  authorities  against  each  other;  Bastian 
claiming  to  have  demonstrated  the  fact,  Tyndall 
to   have  disproved    the   theory. 


82  THE    CREATION. 

It  appeared  at  one  time  that  the  origin  of  life, 
in    some    of  its   forms    at    least,    misiht    be 

^  Bathybius 

traced  to  a  slime  that  covered  the  bot-  (Huxley  and 
torn  of  the  deep  seas,  since  specks  of  liv- 
ing matter  were  found  in  it.  The  suggestion  awak- 
ened much  interest  among  scientific  men,  and  Profs. 
Huxley  and  Haeckel  in  particular  entered  into  a 
careful  investigation.  It  afterward  appeared  that 
this  slime  occurs  only  in  isolated  sections  of  the 
sea-bottom  —  that  oftener  than  otherwise  it  con- 
tains no  life  ;  and  finally,  by  the  microscopic  in- 
vestigations of  Sir  Lionel  Beale,  that  this  ooze  or 
slime,  instead  of  a  bed  of  primitive  life,  is  decay- 
ing matter  out  of  which  the  life  has  not  yet 
wholly  perished.  The  living  specks  were  the  last 
of  their  generation   rather  than   the  first. 

Indeed,  there  is  little  doubt  that  further  inves- 
tigation will  prove  the  simple  microscopic  forms  of 
life  known  as  monad,  bacteria,  and  the  like,  to  be 
the  result  of  decomposition  of  higher  forms  of  life, 
rather  than  the  beginnings  of  new  life.  The  ooze 
at  the  bottom  of  ponds  often  shows  traces  of  ani- 
mal life,  but  it  is  decaying  rather  than  primitive 
life.  Instead  of  representing  matter  in  the  pro- 
cess of  changing  to  the  first  form  of  life,  it  rep- 
resents life  in  the  last  stages  of  decay,  on  the 
point  of  lapsing  into  the  condition  of  dead  mat- 
ter. 


ANIMAL   LIFE.  83 

Prof.   Huxley,  in  his  recent  study  of  ''The  Cray- 
fish,"   speaking-  of  the    wonderful   changes 

^  ^  Huxley's 

that  take  place  in  the  ^^^  as  it  develops  "The  Cray- 
into  the  embryo  animal,  says  they  are 
"  the  necessary  consequences  of  the  interaction  of 
the  molecular  forces  resident  in  the  substance  of 
the  impregnated  ovum  with  the  condition  to  which 
it  is  exposed,"  and  compares  it  to  the  process  of 
crystallization  in  minerals.  But,  aside  from  the  fact 
that  there  is  as  yet  an  unbridged  chasm  between 
organic  and  inorganic  substances — the  one  depend- 
ing upon  molecular  stability  and  the  other  upon 
the  exact  opposite,  molecular  instability,  or  a  con- 
stant change  of  atoms — the  changes  in  crystal- 
lization are  purely  chemical.  Does  Prof.  Huxley 
intend  to  be  understood  as  regarding  the  changes 
in  the  ^^g  as  purely  chemical  ?  We  think  not ;  and 
if  not,  then  the  comparison  fails.  There  is  unques- 
tionably some  force  or  forces  acting  in  the  ^%g. 
But  "the  interaction  of  molecular  forces"  affords 
no  explanation  whatever.  That  operation  needs 
explanation  quite  as  much  as  the  original  process. 

Again,  after  noting  the  close  resemblance  be- 
tween the  lowest  forms  of  animals  and  plants,  he 
proceeds:  ''Given,  one  of  these  protoplasmic  bodies, 
of  which  we  are  unable  to  say  whether  it  is  plant 
or  animal,  and  endow  it  with  such  inherent  capaci- 
ties  of  self -modi fie  at  ion    [the    italics    are    our    own"" 


84  THE   CREATION. 

as  are  manifested  under  our  eyes  by  developing 
ova,  and  we  have  a  sufficient  reason  for  the  exist- 
ence of  any  animal  or  any  plant."  But  Prof.  Hux- 
ley will  surely  concede  that  the  assumption  that 
matter  is  thus  endowed,  is  the  very  point  to  be 
proved.  And  further,  if  such  powers  of  modifica- 
tion are  found  in  matter  in  some  conditions,  the 
question  still  remains,  Whence  came  they?  Are 
they  due  merely  to  conditions,  or  is  there  really 
an  added  force?  Thus  far  it  must  be  confessed 
the  evidence  is  overwhelmingly  in  favor  of  the 
latter. 

And   so,   after  all  this  parley  and   delay,  the  sci- 

Present       ^^^ific    world    is    practically    thrown    back 

attitude  of     upon    the    Professor's    own    dictum    in    the 

science. 

"Encyclopedia  Britannica,"  article  Biology, 
that  "  of  the  causes  which   have  led   to  the   origrina- 
tion  of  living  matter,  we  know  absolutely  nothing." 
The  curious   suggestion   of  Sir  William   Thomp- 
son, that  life    was    imported    to   the    earth 

Meteoric  ori-   ,  ^         .  j  ^       i    ^    • 

g-inof  life  ^^^  meteoric  agency,  need  not  detam  us 
long,  for  it  is  but  a  suggestion  at  the 
best,  with  no  pretence  of  proof;  and  if  the  fact 
were  conceded,  it  would  only  push  the  question  of 
origin  a  little  farther  back  :  it  would  explain  noth- 
ing. For  manifestly  we  can  predicate  nothing  of 
meteoric  matter  that  may  not  with  equal  propriety 
be    predicated    of    the    earth.     If    the    meteor   is    a 


ANIMAL   LIFE.  85 

fragment  of  a  decayed  or  disjointed  world,  how 
came  life  into  that  world  ?  This  attempt  at  ex- 
planation, if  it  is  seriously  intended  as  an  explana- 
tion, leaves   the   inquirer  just   where   it   finds  him. 

A  word,  in    passing,  as    to    the    development    of 
one    race    of   animals    out    of   another.     It 
must  be  said  the  like  has  never  been  wit-   ^  Possible 

development. 

nessed,  though  many  attempts  have  been 
made.  In  no  case  has  one  animal  ever  been 
known  to  produce  an  animal  of  a  race  or  species 
essentially  different  from  itself.  And  though  Prof. 
Hseckel  insists,  with  some  show  of  impatience,  that 
it  is  unscientific  to  demand  such  proof,  considering 
the  time  required  to  produce  essential  variations, 
it  is  certainly  quite  as  unreasonable  to  ask  us  to 
accept  what  it  is  confessed  has  never  yet  been 
proven.  It  is  true  that  some  modifications  have 
been  effected  in  animals  under  domestication,  as 
shown  by  Mr.  Darwin,  but  that  is  no  argument 
for  variation  by  ''natural  selection;"  the  one  im- 
plies intelligent  oversight,  the  other  expressly  dis- 
owns   it. 

What,   then,   of  the    germ   theory? 

It    is    conceded    on    all    hands    that    we   have    no 
certain  knowledge  of  life   produced    other- 
wise than  from  some    antecedent    form    of       theory™ 
life.      The     plant     springs     from     a     seed 
which    encloses    a    living  germ.     The    offspring    de- 


86  THE   CREATION. 

scends  from  the  parent  through  a  series  of  changes 
beginning  in  a  living  cell. 

All  our  knowledge  and  experience,  then,  are  in 
favor  of  this  theory. 

But  the  existence  of  a  living  germ,  whether 
one  or  more,  with  the  possibility  of  definite  de- 
velopment, implies  the  existence  of  a  Creator  with 
intelligence,  power,  will,  and  purpose.  And,  as  be- 
fore said,  with  so  much  conceded,  all  else  follows 
easily. 

To  enter  with  more  detail  upon  the  various 
theories  touching  the  origin  and  transmission  of  life 
would  lead  us  quite  outside  the  range  of  discus- 
sion contemplated  in  these  pages,  and  we  turn  now, 
after  so  long  a  digression,  to  the  immediate  sub- 
ject of  the  present  lecture:  The  Animal  Kingdom. 

After  the  appearance  of  plants  which  might 
serve  as  food  for  animals,  and  after  the 
\vorid  atmosphere  was  so  far  cleared  of  poison- 
ous gases  as  to  adapt  it  for  respiration, 
came  a  new  order  of  existence,  the  animal  creation, 
briefly  epitomized  in  Genesis  thus:  "And  God  said, 
let  the  waters  bring  forth  abundantly  the  moving 
creature  that  hath  life,  and  fowl  that  may  fly  above 
the  earth  in  the  open  firmament  of  heaven.  And 
.  .  .  let  the  earth  bring  forth  the  living  creature 
after  his  kind,  cattle  and  creeping  things  and 
beasts   of  the  earth  .  .  .  and   it  was  so." 


ANIMAL  LIFE.  8/ 

It  is  here   stated    that   the   water   and    the    earth 

brought    forth    Hving    things.      But,  as    we 

^ l^      have    had     occasion     to    note    before,  the 

recoi-Q.  ' 

narrative  recognizes  no  fortuitous  hap- 
pening in  this — no  chance  development  or  occur- 
rence. It  was  according  to  the  divine  ordering  of 
events.  There  the  author  finds,  every  time,  his 
sure  cause  and  sufficient  starting-point.  It  was  the 
Creator  working  by  plain  and  definite  methods, 
with  intent  to  bring  out  of  chaos  the  order,  har- 
mony, and  beauty  of  a  completed  and  peopled 
world. "^^ 

*  Since  the  above  was  written  a  notable  work  by  R.  W.  Wright", 
entitled  ^'  Life  its  True  Genesis"  has  appeared,  in  which  the  posi- 
tion is  assumed  and  defended  with  much  skill  and  labor  that  "  the 
primordial  germs  (meaning  germinal  principles  of  life)  of  all  living 
tilings,  man  alone  excepted,  are  in  themselves  upon  the  earth,  and 
that  they  severally  make  their  appearance,  each  after  its  kind,  when- 
ever and  wherever  the  necessary  environing  conditions  exist."  In 
these  facts  he  finds  the  interpretation  of  the  words,  "  Let  the  earth 
bring  forth,"  etc.  Not  that  the  germs  develop  from  the  soil,  ac- 
cording to  evolution,  but  that  they  exist,  were  implanted  in  the  earth, 
and  that  they  not  only  may  but  must  appear,  whenever  the  heces- 
sary  conditions  occur.  He  illustrates  by  the  alternations  of  forest 
trees  and  changes  of  vegetable  growth,  \\'ithout  the  known  presence 
of  seeds,  as  the  fire-weed  appears  in  a  burnt  forest  though  it  may 
not  have  been  known  within  hundreds  of  miles  before,  plantain 
springs  up  about  a  new  house,  aconite  about  an  alpine  hut,  and 
white  clover  instead  of  the  native  wild  grasses,  in  a  used  pasture. 
On  the  same  principle  he  would  account  for  the  simultaneous  ap- 
pearance of  like  flora,  in  widely  remote  sections  of  the  earth.  If 
we  understand  the  author — we  could  wish  he  had  been  more  ex- 
plicit on  this  point — he  would  apply  the  same  reasoning  to  the  ani- 
mal world,  man  alone  excepted.  The  theory  is  a  bold  and  some- 
what novel    one. 


88  THE   CREATION. 

According  to  this  record,  the  earliest  Hfe  was 
in  the  sea.  There  is  nothing  definite  as  to  form 
or  quality,  only  that  it  was  a  "moving  thing  that 
had  life,"  and  was  thus  distinguished  from  the 
plant  which  is  usually  fixed,  and  that  it  "  brought 
forth  abundantly,"  or  multiplied  rapidly.  The  de- 
scription is  that  of  an  animal  of  low  grade  or  of 
the  simplest  structure.  The  next  mention  is  of 
fowl,  or  what  is  deemed  a  more  accurate  render- 
ing, "  winged  creatures,"  and  must  include  the 
forms  of  life  that  are  in  the  air.  Allusion  is  next 
made  again  to  life  in  the  water  under  the  general 
term    "  great   whales,"    or    reptiles. 

And  following  this  by  so  wide  an  interval  as  to 
be  placed  at  the  beginning  of  the  following  day, 
came  "  the  beasts  of  the  earth,"  including  cattle 
and  creeping  things,  or  the  animals  in  general  that 
live  on  the  land,  as  distinguished  from  those  that 
live    in   the    air    or    dwell    in    the    sea. 

Let  us  claim  no  more  for  this  account  than  the 
language  fully  warrants.  Life,  first  in  the  water, 
then  in  the  air,  then  on  the  land.  This  is  the 
order  indicated,  and  we  must  suppose  the  order  in- 
tended. Again,  we  are  led  to  infer  that  the  first 
forms  of  animal  life  were  very  simple,  scarcely  dif- 
fering from  plants,  except  that  they  were  endowed 
with  power  to  move,  and  that  in  process  of  time 
and  with  some  orderly  sequence,  the  line  proceeded 


ANIMAL   LIFE,  89 

toward  higher  and  more  complex  forms ;  to  the 
fishes  that  inhabit  the  waters,  the  birds  that  peo- 
ple the  air,  the  cattle  that  roam  on  the  hills,  and 
the  beasts   that   prowl   in   the  jungle. 

This  is,  in  brief,  the  story  told  us  in   Genesis  of 
the  creation   and   appearance   of  the   animal   world. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  other  fields  of  inquiry  with 
reference   to   the  same  things. 

First,    let    us   note    what    science   teaches    of   the 
varieties  of  animal  life,  or  the  divisions  of 
the    animal    kingdom    as    a    whole.       And  ^'''f  ^'  ^^^ 

°  alysis. 

then  let  us  read  in  the  rocks,  as  far  as 
we  are  able,  the  order  in  which  these  several  divis- 
ions made  their  first  appearance.  For  it  is  on  the 
fossils  we  must  rely  at  last  to  know  positively 
which  came  first  and  which  came  afterward.  And 
fortunately,  we  shall  find  this  an  easier  task  than 
in  the  case  of  plants,  especially  in  the  earlier  ages, 
as  the  remains  are  so  much  more  abundant  and 
more  perfectly  preserved   in   form. 

We  encounter  a  difficulty  here  in  adopting  a  di- 
vision of  the  animal  kingdom  that  will  be  intelligi- 
ble  to  all  without   extended  explanation. 

There  are  certain  broad  distinctions   in      Different 
the  animal  world   that   are   useful   in   such  ^^^^^^fi<^^^'""^- 
discussions,  as   far  as  they   go.     There   are  the  cold- 
blooded animals  and   the    warm-blooded.     There  are 
the  gill-breathers  and  the  lung-breathers.     But  these 


90  THE    CREATION. 

are  not  sufficiently  specific  for  our  purpose.  A  di- 
vision was  suggested  by  an  eminent  naturalist  a 
few  years  ago,  which  for  its  simplicity  we  hoped 
might  come  into  use.  It  was  substantially  this. 
Animals  may  be  approximately  classified  thus : — 
I.  Those  with  stomachs.  2.  Those  with  shells.  3. 
Those  with  legs  or  other  limbs.  4.  Those  with 
heads.  That  is  to  say,  these  parts  severally  are 
the  specific  characteristics  of  the  different  groups. 
The  lowest  type  of  animal  has  little  if  any  organ- 
ism except  a  stomach.  Then  come  those  with 
stomachs,  to  be  sure,  but  adding  a  shell  for  pro- 
tection ;  or  some  type  of  limb  for  locomotion, 
whether  on  the  ground,  in  the  water,  or  in  the 
air.  While  the  most  important  part  about  the 
higher  animal,  as  a  distinctive  type,  is  the  head. 

But  this  classification,  while  peculiarly  sugges- 
tive, was  not  sufficiently  specific  for  scientific  work, 
and   never  came  into   use. 

And  there  seems  no  resource  left  us  but  to 
turn  to  zoology,  as  in  the  last  lecture  to  botany, 
and,  simplifying  the  scientific  terms  as  far  as  we 
may,   adopt  the  classification  there   employed. 

Naturalists    recognize    five    divisions    of    the    ani- 
mal  kingdom,   namely: 
Zoological         Y     Protozoans;    literally    "first     livers," 

distinctions. 

generally    microscopic,    though    sometimes 
attainincr    to   considerable   size. 


ANIMAL   LIFE.  9 1 

II.  Radiates,  or  star-shaped  animals. 

III.  MoUusks,  or  soft-bodied  animals,  generally 
with  shells. 

IV.  Articulates,  having  a  jointed  or  ring-like 
structure. 

V.  Vertebrates,  or  animals  with  internal  skeleton, 
including  a  vertebral  column,    or   backbone. 

All  animals  that  live,  and  all  of  which  we  find 
any  traces  in  the  rocks,  are  of  one  of  these  classes. 
Let  us  examine  the  structure  and  mode  of  life  of 
each.  A  single  specimen  of  the  first,  the  Proto- 
zoan, will  answer  our  purpose. 

The  xA.moeba,  a  minute    animal  sometimes  found 
in  stagnant  pools,  seems  nothing  but  a  bit 
of  pulp.     The   outside  is   much   like  jelly;     '^^^^  P'"°*° 

^       ^  J       /  >  zoan. 

the  inside  somewhat  granular.  It  has  no 
limbs  proper,  and  still  it  moves.  It  has  no  mouth, 
and  still  it  eats.  It  will  fasten  on  a  seed,  or  other 
substance  that  will  serve  as  food,  no  matter  what 
part  the  seed  touches  first,  and  soon  it  will  dis- 
appear inside  the  animal,  and  in  due  time  the 
refuse  is  cast  out  in  an  equally  mysterious  way ; 
the  animal  having  absorbed  whatever  was  nutritious, 
ejects  what  does  not  serve  its  purpose.  This  is  a 
type  of  the  animal  with  a  stomach,  the  first  essen- 
tial in  the  living  creature,  and  one  that  never 
looses  its  importance.  Without  a  stomach  that 
performs   its   functions   well,   there   can  be   no  sound 


92  THE    CREATION. 

and  healthy  organism  in  any  animal  whether  of 
high  or  low  degree.  The  little  animal  just  de- 
scribed will  serve  as  an  illustration  of  the  simplest 
form  of  life,  though  the  sponge  is  a  more  familiar 
example   and   one   more  easily  examined. 

Next  come  the  Radiates,  so  called  from  their 
star-like  form,  which  in  addition  to  a 
The  Radiate,  stomach  have  a  perceptible  mouth.  They 
have  also  rays  or  parts  branching  in  all 
directions  much  like  the  leaves  of  a  plant,  which 
serve  them  in  moving  through  the  water  or  in 
gathering   food. 

Among  the  best  known  examples  of  these  are 
the  star-fish,  the  jelly  fish,  and  most  corals.  Their 
structure  and  habits  are  simple,  but  a  considerable 
advance   over  the   Protozoans. 

Next    in    order    come    the    Mollusks,     including 

everything  that  wears  a  shell,  either  with- 

^7^^ .        out  or  within,  from  the  commonplace  clam 

Mollusk.  ^ 

and  oyster  to  the  artistically  formed  am- 
monite and  the  delicately  tinted  nautilus,  and  from 
the  slow-footed  snail  to  the  slimy  and  voracious 
cuttle-fish,  which  there  is  little  doubt  is  the  mys- 
terious and  dreaded  sea-serpent  of  the  modern  seas. 
The  almost  infinite  variety  that  make  up  this 
branch  of  the  animal  world  will  appear  on  exami- 
nation of  any  large  collection  of  shells,  such  as 
natural   history  cabinets  afford. 


ANIMAL   LIFE.  93 

Most  of  these  animals  are  included  under  the 
general  name  of  "  shell-fish."  But  they  are  in  no 
proper  sense  fishes.  They  have  no  more  similarity 
in  structure  or  habit  to  the  fish  than  to  the  seal 
or  manatee,  which   also   inhabit   the  sea. 

And,  now,  does  it  occur  to  the  reader  that  in 
all  these  classes  of  animals.  Protozoans,  Radiates, 
and  Mollusks,  there  are  scarcely  any  that  live  on 
dry  land  ?  The  sea  swarmed  with  life  while  as 
yet   the   land   was   destitute. 

But  let  us  go  a  little  farther,  and  we  shall  find 
there   were   different   orders  of  life   in   store. 

The    next    division   of  the    animal  kingdom,    the 
Articulates,  having    a    ring-like   or  jointed 
structure,    includes    the   lobster,    which    in         The 

Articulate. 

place  of  shell  has  a  closely  articulated 
crust,  together  with  the  worms  and  all  the  insect 
world.  This  division  has  a  few  representatives  in 
the  sea,  but  takes  us,  for  the  most  part,  on  to  the 
land  and  into  the  air.  It  is  unnecessary  to  cite 
particular  examples. 

Finally   comes   the  division  known   as   the  Verte- 
brates,  in  which   the   animal  kingdom  cul- 
minates,  or  reaches  its  highest  perfection.    velLe. 

Among     the    animals    with    backbon  s 
we    shall    find    those    that    live    in    the    water,  those 
that    live    in    the    air,  and    those    that    live    on    the 
land.       But    it    is    a   fact   quite  in    accord    with    the 


94  THE    CREATION. 

principle  already  established,  that  that  in  the  sea 
came  first,  that  in  the  air  followed,  and  then  that 
on   the   land. 

First   the  fishes,  then  the  birds,  then  the  beasts. 

So  much  for  what  science  teaches  of  the  divis- 
ions  and   characteristics   of  the  animal  kingdom. 

The  question  follows  next,  in  what  order  did 
these   several   types  of  life  appear,    or  was 

The  order  of      ,      .  .  .       ___ 

succession,  their  appearance  simultaneous  ?  We  pur- 
sue the  same  course  as  in  dealing  with 
plants  in  the  last  lecture.  In  the  earliest  rocks 
containing  fossils  of  animals  are  found  only  Pro- 
tozoans, "  first  livers  "  as  they  are  appropriately 
styled  on  that  account.  The  remains  are  few,  as 
might  be  expected,  for  they  are  slight  and  simple 
in   structure,   and   therefore  perishable. 

Next  we  find,  in  rocks  somewhat  later,  the  re- 
mains of  Radiates,  especially  corals,  and  MoUusks  of 
almost  infinite  variety.  Beds  of  limestone  are  often 
found  consisting  almost  wholly  of  one  or  the  other 
of  these.  In  coral  limestone,  however,  traces  of  the 
original  skeletons  are  comparatively  rare ;  they 
were  broken  and  crushed  in  the  process  of  con- 
solidation ;  but  in  "  shell-limestone "  made  up  of 
the  remains  of  mollusks,  as  that  found  near  St. 
Augustine,  Florida,  the  skeletons  are  often  found 
almost   as  perfect   as   in   the  living  animal. 

The   foregoing,  it   will  be  observed,  comprise  the 


ANlMiL   LIFE.  95 

first  three  types  of  life  above  described.  As  we 
proceed  in  our  investigation,  from  the  older  toward 
the  more  recent  rock  formations,  we  shall  find 
these  several  groups  still,  together  with  the  Ar- 
ticulates, and  the  Vertebrates  are  also  added,  thus 
completing  the  list  of  distinct  types  of  animal  life. 
But  the  indications  of  an  onward  and  upward  pro- 
gress in  the  forms  of  life  do  not  cease  here.  Each 
succeeding  age  witnesses  a  marked  change  in  the 
several  groups  or  types  of  life.  And  this  is  par- 
ticularly  observable  among  Vertebrates. 

First  or  lowest  among  vertebrated  animals  are 
fishes.  And  to  such  rank  did  they  attain  at  one 
time,  in  point  of  numbers,  variety,  and  size,  that  the 
period  has  received  the  name  of  the  Age  of  Fishes. 
After  this  came  an  Age  of  Reptiles  ;  the  reptile 
ranking  above  the  fish  in  completeness  of  structure 
and  adaptedness  to  different  conditions  of  life. 
Then  came  the  Age  of  Mammals,  generally  large 
land  animals.  And  finally  the  Age  of  Man,  who 
represents  the  highest  class  in  the  whole  group  of 
vertebrated   animals. 

Such  is  the  story,  in  brief,  the  rocks  tell  us  of 
the  various  types  and  classes  of  animals  that  have 
lived  and  died  upon  the  earth,  together  with  the 
order  in  which  they  succeeded  one  another. 

How  do  we  know  such  animals  as  these  ever 
lived  ?     In    the    same    way    that    if,   digging    in    an 


9^  THE    CREATION. 

ancient    cemetery,  we  came    upon  the   skeleton  of  a 

Testimon      ^^^^  large  man,    we    should    know    that    a 

of  giant    had    sometime    been    buried    there. 

tliG  rocks 

We  find  the  remains  of  them  in  the  rocks 
that  compose  the  crust  of  the  earth.  No  such  re- 
mains would  appear  had  not  such  creatures  lived. 
Nor  would  such  relics  have  been  embodied  in  the 
rocks,  had  they  not  lived  and  died  at  the  time 
such  rocks  were  in  process  of  formation.  But  this 
will   more    fully  appear  in   the   succeeding  lecture. 

And  now  the  reader  may  be  interested  to  know 
Com  arison   ^^^^^  points  of   Correspondence  clearly  ex- 

of  ist  between  the  record  just  laid  down  and 

records.  i   •    i 

that  which  appears  m  Genesis.  It  would 
be  idle  to  say  we  find  in  the  latter  a  detailed 
history  or  complete  analysis.  The  author  was  not 
writing  a  treatise  on  zoology.  He,  at  most,  indi- 
cates only  the  most  obvious  characteristics  of  dif- 
ferent classes  of  animals,  and  that  chiefly  by  the 
element  in  which  they  live.  The  order  observed  is 
this.  First  life — abundant  life — in  the  sea,  then  life 
in   the  air,  then  life  on   the  land. 

We  found  by  indications  in  the  rocks  that  the 
sea  abounded  with  life,  while  the  land  was  des- 
titute; then  that  there  was  probably  life  in  the 
air,  before  any  pertaining  strictly  to  the  land  ; 
and  finally  that  "  the  beasts  of  the  earth  " — in 
other  words,  land  animals,  were   the    last   to    appear 


ANIMAL   LIFE.  97 

preceding  the  advent  of  man.  These  points  will 
plainly  appear  to  any  one  who  choses  to  examine 
the  records    together. 

The  precise  point  at  which  each  group  or  di- 
vision of.  animals  made  its  first  appearance  cannot 
be  certainly  determined — for,  like  the  earliest  plants, 
the  earliest  animals  may  have  disappeared  entirely, 
owing  to  the  condition  of  the  earth,  its  tempera- 
ture and  surroundings,  and  the  volcanic  convulsions 
that  took  place.  But  the  time  at  which  each  rose 
into  promine7ice^  and  became  the  leading  feature  or 
controlling  power,  can  be  determined  with  all  the 
accuracy  science  can  give,  with  the  aid  of  the  most 
abundant   fossils. 

And   so   we    return  to   the   point   from  which  we 
started — that    after    the    surface     of    the 
earth   was  divided  into  land    and  sea,  and   Conclusion, 
the  hardened  crust  had  worn  and  softened 
into  beds   of  soil — after  plants  had   had   all   the   life 
to  themselves  awhile,  and  the  air  was  so  far  purified 
it  could   be  breathed  ;  then,  by  the  divine  fiat,  came 
forth    in    the  waters   the  moving    creature   that    had 
life,  and  winged   creatures   that  fly  above  the  earth  ; 
and  then  appeared   on  the  land,  cattle   and   creeping 
things  and    beasts  of  the   earth,   each   after   his  kind. 

And  thus  was  the  earth  made  ready,  by  long 
process  of  preparation,  for  the  abode  of  intelli- 
gence and   the    use   of  man. 


VI 


Reading  the  Record, 


"  The  invisible  things  of  him  are  clearly  seen,  being-  under- 
stood by  the  things  that  are  made." 


■  In  contemplation  of  created  things, 
By  steps  we  may  ascend  to  God." 

— Milton. 


Nature  hath  made  nothing  so  base,  but  can 
Read  some  instruction  to  the  wisest  man." 


"  And  in  that  rock  are  shapes  of  shells,  and  forms 
Of  creatures  in  old  worlds. 
Whose  generations  lived  and  died  ere  man 
Appeared  upon  the  scene." 

— Adapted  from  Crabbe. 


VI. 

READING  THE  GEOLOGICAL  RECORD. 

We  propose  in  this  discourse  to  see  what  kind 
of  record  geology  can  give  us  of  Hfe  upon  the 
earth. 

To    that    end    we    must    speak     first    of  certain 
rock     formations;     whence     the     material 
comes,     how    it    is    deposited,     and     what       of  rocks 
changes  follow.     And  as  nature's  methods 
are    very    constant,    if  we    determine    the    processes 
for    one    age    we    solve   the    problem    for   all   ages. 

The  formation  of  different  kinds  of  rocks  may 
be  illustrated  as  follows.  After  a  heavy  rain,  the 
water  that  flows  along  the  streets  of  a  country 
village,  where  the  conditions  of  nature  are  but 
slightly  changed,  will  be  turbid  and  muddy;  mov- 
ing more  or  less  rapidly  according  to  the  descent 
of  the  ground,  and  carrying  along  sand,  clay, 
gravel,  and  such  refuse  as  may  come  in  its  way. 
Moreover,  if  the  surface  be  uneven  and  the  soil 
soft  or  friable,  the  hillsides  will  be  furrowed  out 
and    partially    washed    away.     As    the    rivulets    from 


I02  THE    CREATION. 

Streets    or   hills    collect    in    a    valley,  they  will    form 

a    current   of  increased  volume  and    force,    that   will 

still    bear  onward    its    accumulation    of  sediment. 

If,    now,    the   stream    enter    a   pond    or   lake    the 

^  ,.  current  will    widen,  and   so    lose  its  force, 

Sediment 

g:athered  and  and  this  hetcrogeneous  mass  of  material, 
will  be  assorted  and  distributed  some- 
what as  follows.  The  heavier  particles,  that  is,  the 
gravel,  will  sink  first  and  be  deposited  in  a  bed  of 
comparatively  narrow  limits  near  the  entrance  of 
the  stream.  The  sand,  being  lighter,  will  be  borne 
farther  out,  till  the  current  can  carry  it  no  longer, 
when  it  will  sink,  and  in  consequence  be  dis- 
tributed over  a  wider  surface  and  above  the  gravel. 
And  if  the  quantity  of  sand  and  gravel  be  about 
equal,  it  is  evident  the  layer  of  sand  will  be  as 
much  thinner  than  that  of  the  gravel,  as  the  area 
covered   is   greater. 

Then,  again,  the  silt — finely  comminuted  clay, 
called  dust  when  dry — being  still  lighter  than  sand, 
will  be  borne  still  farther  out,  and  distributed  in 
consequence  over  a  still  larger  area  than  either  of 
the  others. 

And,  now,  when  in  process  of  ages  these  beds 
of  sedimentary  deposits  solidify — change  to  solid 
rock,  the  lower  bed  will  be  conglomerate,  the  mid- 
dle one  sandstone,  and  the  upper  slate.  A  similar 
process     goes    on,    on     a    much    larger   scale    in   the 


READING    THE   RECORD.  IO3 

ocean,  especially  in  the  formation  of  the  two  va- 
rieties last  named,  but  the  smaller  body  of  water 
is    more   convenient    for  our  purpose   of  illustration. 

But  there  is  another  important  matter  to  be 
considered    in    this    connection. 

In  case  of  heavy  rains  various  fragments  of 
organic  remains,  vegetable    or    animal,   are 

1-11  1  11-  1  Orig:in  of 

likely  to  be  washed  mto  the  stream  fossils, 
and  deposited  with  the  other  sediment. 
Such  a  fragment  may  be  buried  in  the  gravel,  in 
the  sand,  or  in  the  silt;  and  so  imbedded  becomes 
a  fossil,  that  may  appear  if  the  ledge  of  rock  is 
ever  opened.  It  is  clear  that  it  must  drift  in  and 
be  deposited  while  the  sediment  is  gathering  and 
before  it  is  solidified.  And  we  may,  therefore,  con- 
clude that  such  fossil  is  a  relic  of  a  plant  or  ani- 
mal that  lived  on  the  earth  when  that  rock  was 
forming,  or  at  no  very  long  period  before ;  and 
that  it,  therefore,  gives  us  a  clue  to  the  kind  oi 
life  in    that   period. 

The  chances  of  the  fossil  being  preserved, 
however,    depend    largely   on   the    particu- 

,     .  ,   .    ,       •-      r  11  Preservation 

lar  bed   mto   which    it    falls.  ^^  ^^^^jj^^ 

Conglomerate  is  not    favorable  for    the 
preservation    of  a    foreign    body :    first,    because    the 
gravel   tends    to    grind  and  destroy    it;  and,  second, 
because    the    rock    being    porous,    water    percolates 
through  and  tends   to    dissolve   it.     Nor  is  the  slate 


104  THE    CREATION. 

much  more  favorable.  Owing  to  the  crystallizing 
process  that  makes  the  slate  bed  easily  divisible 
into  thin  plates,  the  form  of  the  fossil  is  likely 
to  be  distorted  beyond  recognition,  if  not  entirely 
destroyed.  Of  the  formations  described,  therefore, 
the  sandstone  is  likely  to  show  most  fossils  in  a 
fair  state  of  preservation.  We  have  now  indicated 
the  mode  of  origin  of  three  important  kinds  of 
rocks.  There  is  a  fourth,  formed  in  a  different 
way,  we  must  also  notice,  as  it  is  the  most  im- 
portant   of  all    the  fossilliferous   series. 

Lime,  which  makes  up  so  large  a  portion  of  the 

rock    systems,    is    held    in    solution    in    the 

Origin  of     ^y^^gj-g   of  the   sea  as  well  as  of  lakes  and 

limestone. 

rivers,  and  contributes  largely  to  the 
structure  of  both  animals  and  plants.  When  an 
animal  dies,  its  skeleton,  whether  bone  or  shell,  is 
readily  transformed  into  limestone,  unless  the  con- 
ditions are  entirely  adverse.  And  many  limestone 
beds  are  made  up  almost  wholly  of  such  remains. 
From  the  earliest  formation  of  sedimentary  rocks, 
this  process  has  been  going  on,  especially  in  the 
sea,  and  is  still  going  on. 

With  each  geological  epoch,  a  new  layer  of 
limestone  is  added  to  some  part  of  the  earth's 
crust. 

Oftentimes  these  remains  lose  their  shape  en- 
tirely,   may    be    finely    powdered    by    a    process    of 


READING    THE  RECORD.  105 

attrition,  or  crushed  and  folded  by  superincumbent 
pressure,  before  the  bed  is  finally  solidified.  Or, 
after  solidification  they  may  undergo  a  sort  of 
metamorphosis  by  which  the  original  structure  is 
lost,  though  the  substance  remains,  as  in  finely 
grained  marble  which  is  nothing  but  common  lime- 
stone changed   by  pressure  and  heat. 

And,  again,  the  fossils  may  be  unearthed  ages 
on  ages  after  they  are  deposited,  almost  as  dis- 
tinctly shaped  as  they  were  in  life.  They  con- 
tribute in  either  case,  however,  to  the  substance  of 
the   bed   of  which  they  form  a  part. 

With  this  analysis  of  rock  formations,  if  we 
will  briefly  recall  the  divisions  and  distinctions  be- 
fore noted  in  the  animal  and  vegetable  kingdoms, 
whence  all  fossils  come,  we  shall  now  be  able  to 
make  out  a  fairly  complete  history  of  life  on  the 
earth,  from  its  early  if  not  its  first  appearance,  to 
the  present  era. 

Plants    are    divisible    into    three    general    classes, 
distinguished    by    their    modes    of    growth 
and  fruiting  or    seeding,  and    conveniently  7!^^  7^?^^^- 

^  ^'  J     Die  kingdom. 

designated    as     Acrogens,     Endogens,    and 
Exogens.     We    need   not   restate   the  distinctions   in 
detail. 

The  animal  kingdom  is  divisible  into  The  animal 
five  general  classes:  Protozoans,  Radiates,  ^'"^'^°"- 
MoUusks,   Articulates,   and   Vertebrates,    the  distinc 


I06  THE   CREATION. 

tions  between  which  will  be  readily  recalled.  The 
first  is  represented  by  the  infusoria  and  the  sponge ; 
the  second  by  the  coral  and  the  star-fish  ;  the  third 
by  the  snail  on  land  and  oyster  in  the  sea ;  the 
fourth  by  the  worm  on  land,  the  insect  in  the  air, 
and  lobster  in  the  sea ;  and  the  fifth  by  the  fish, 
reptile,  bird,  quadruped,  and  man. 

We  have,  then,  before  us  a  view  of  the  princi- 
pal rock  formations  in  which  fossils  may  be  "found. 
And  also  the  two  sources  or  kingdoms  which  con- 
tribute fossils  to  the  rocks  when  forming. 

And,    now,    to  the    record    itself. 

The  first  formed  rocks  were,  of  course,  of 
^  .  .         io^neous    orio;in — came    out    of  the    fire,  or 

Origin  ^  ^ 

of  earliest  were  Solidified  by  cooling  from  a  molten 
state.  In  these  there  could  have  been 
no  life  or  remains  of  life  ;  for  till  after  this  period, 
no  living  thing  could  have  existed  on  the  earth, 
by  reason  of  the  intense  heat.  Moreover,  the  first 
formed  rocks,  resulting  from  the  cooling  process, 
must  have  been  corroded  on  the  surface  and  worn 
away,  forming  soft  beds  of  soil,  either  on  the 
rocks,  or  by  drifting,  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea, 
before  there  could  have  been  any  kind  of  even 
vegetable  life.  But  this  seems  not  to  have  been 
long  delayed,  for  in  very  early  beds  of  sedimen- 
tary rocks  are  found  traces  of  some  forms  of  life. 
For  convenience  we  adopt   the  geologist's   desig- 


READING    THE  RECORD.  IO7 

nations   of  the    successive   eras   or   ages.     \See  chari 
following  this  lecture.'] 

The    earliest  sedimentary  rocks   of  any    consider 
able  extent  are  known  as  the  Laurentian, 

Earliest 

and  in  parts  oi  America  are  estimated  sedimentary 
to  have  attained  a  thickness  or  depth  of 
thirty  thousand  feet.  The  period  in  which  they 
were  formed  was  long  supposed  to  have  been  life- 
less. But  recent  discoveries  have  changed  that 
conclusion.  The  plants,  as  plants,  have  entirely 
disappeared,  no  form  of  one  being  distinguishable 
in    fossil. 

But  the  existence  of  extensive  beds  of  graphite 
— sometimes,     though     incorrectly,    stvled 

^  /'  /  Earliest  evi- 

black  lead — in  the  Laurentian  rocks,  im-  dence  of  life 
plies  the  existence  of  plants  in  that  ^^""^P^'*^^- 
period.  For  since  graphite  is  believed  to  have  the 
same  origin  as  coal,  namely  from  plants,  it  could 
not  have  been  formed  before  there  were  plants  of 
which  to  form  it. 

And  as  the  first  distinguishable  plants  above 
this  formation  are  all  of  the  first  and  simplest 
class,  namely  Acrogens,  we  have  the  best  of  rea- 
sons for  presuming  the  Laurentian  plants,  or  the 
plants  which  grew  when  the  Laurentian  rocks 
were    forming,    were  entirely   of  this    class. 

Moreover,  some  diligent  explorers,  notably  Dr. 
J.    W.    Dawson,    of   McGill    College,    Montreal,    has 


108  THE    CREATION. 

discovered    in    the    upper    or    later    Laurentian,     the 

fossil  of  an  animal,   Eozoon  (dawning  life), 

^     ^         so    simple    and    yet    so    obscure    in    struc- 

Lozoon.  ^  •' 

ture,  that  its  organic  character  is  still 
in  some  doubt.  If  it  is  an  animal,  as  it  prob- 
ably is,  it  is  of  the  very  lowest  form,  one  of 
the  minor  Protozoans.  Life  began  at  the  lowest 
point,  and  with  the  simplest  mode  of  growth. 
Here,  then,  we  find  the  introduction  of  life  upon 
the  earth,  in  the  form  of  plants,  and  possibly  of 
animals  also.  The  occurrence  of  limestone  and 
beds  of  iron  ore  in  the  same  formation  are  also 
regarded  as  signs  of  the  existence  of  some  kind  of 
life,  since  these  owe  their  origin  chiefly  to  organic 
agency.  But  little  account  has  yet  been  made  of 
this  fact  by  the  geologist,  however,  in  dealing  with 
the  Laurentian    rocks. 

We   now    move   up    one    step  in   the   series. 

Next  in  order  after  the  Laurentian  came  the 
Silurian    rocks,    so  named    from    a    district 

The 

Silurian  in  England  where  they  show  at  the  sur- 
oima  ion.  ^^^^^  They  are  made  up  of  successive 
series  of  beds  of  sandstone,  limestone,  and  shale  (a 
soft  irregular  slate),  nature  having  now  got  fairly 
to  work,  wearing  away  rocks,  transporting  the 
abraded  material  by  means  of  wind  and  ocean 
currents,  and  building  them  up  in  other  places. 
We    find    in    these    rocks    the    remains    of    both 


READING    THE   RECORD.  IO9 

plants  and  animals,  many  still  of  low  type  and 
very  simple  structure,  such  as  the  sea-weed  among 
plants  and  the  sponge  and  coral  among  animals  ; 
but  there  are  found  also  both  plants  and  animals  of 
higher  forms  and  more  varied  constitutions,  showing 
a  great  advance   over  the   life   of  the   former  period. 

The  Radiates  doubtless  existed  in  great  num- 
bers, especially  corals  and  crinoids,  or  flower  ani- 
mals, as  they  are  sometimes  called  by  reason  of 
their  peculiar  shape ;  but  as  they  are  fragile  or 
pulpy  in  substance,  and  therefore  easily  destroyed, 
they  do  not  appear  in  great  numbers  in  the  rocks. 
But  the  Mollusk,  with  his  strong  shell  to  protect 
him  in  life  and  keep  his  memory  alive  when  he 
is  dead,  appeared  in  strong  force,  and  some  beds 
of  the  Silurian  rocks,  as  those  which  appear  at 
Trenton  Falls,  New  York,  are  composed  almost 
wholly  of  its  remains.  To  walk  along  the  shelv- 
ing banks  of  that  stream  (Canada  Creek),  or  on 
portions  of  its  dry  bed  when  the  water  is  low, 
as  it  is  sometimes  late  in  summer,  is  to  tread 
upon  millions  of  skeletons  or  casements  of  these 
animals   that   lived    in    the    sea   in   the   Silurian  age. 

This     formation,     extending     eastward     _,    _ 

'  ^  The  Green 

into     Vermont,    was     metamorphosed     or     Mountain 
crystallized  in  the   upheaval  of  the   Green 
Mountains,    and    constitutes    the    extensive    marble 
beds    of  that    region. 


no  THE    CREATION. 

-There  was  as  yet  little  if  any  life  upon  the 
land.  The  ocean  was  inhabited — the  scene,  per- 
haps, of  strife  and  depredation  ;  the  land  was 
almost  utterly    bare    and   still. 

The    plants    of  this    period     either    did    not    ad- 
vance so  rapidly,  or,  as  seems  riiore  proba- 
antso  te  ^^^    their  softer  substance    rendered   them 

Silurian  age.  ' 

more  liable  to  destruction  in  the  geologic 
convulsions  and  revolutions  that  marked,  at  that 
early  day,  the  changes  from  one  period  to  another. 
What  plants  do  reveal  themselves,  however,  show 
a  considerable  variety,  including  a  large  number  of 
marine  plants  and  in  the  upper  layers  a  few  that 
grew  on  the  land.  Some  additions  have  been 
made  by  recent  explorations,  and  others  may  still 
be  added  to  the  list.  The  whole  number  of  plants 
that  can  be  identified  is  small  in  comparison  with 
the  number  of  animals,  and  they  are  chiefly  if  not 
entirely  of  the  class  of  Acrogens.  This  difference 
in  number  is  nothing  remarkable,  however,  consid- 
ering the  readiness  with  which  tender  herbage 
yields    to    the    action    of  the    elements. 

Leaving   now  the    Silurian  we  pass  next    to    the 
_,  Devonian   formation,  named    also   from   an 

The 

Devonian     English   district.     Hugh    Miller    styled    it 

formation. 

the  -'Old  Red  Sandstone.  And  here 
we  shall  find  some  marked  changes  in  the  types 
of  life    among  both    animals   and    plants.     First  the 


READING    THE   RECORD.  Ill 

plants  were  much  more  numerous;  or  if  not  more 
numerous  in  growth,  then  more  successfully  pre- 
served in  fossil.  They  belong  chiefly  still  to  the 
first  class  of  plants,  though  one  or  two,  of  higher 
but  uncertain  type,  have  been  identified.  It  must 
be  borne  in  mind  that  the  extent  of  sea  was  much 
greater  than  at  a  later  period,  and  that  of  land 
correspondingly  less.  And  this  may  account  for 
the  fact  that  the  plants  continued  of  that  class 
that  flourishes  best  in  the  sea,  or  'in  immediate 
proximity  to  it.  The  higher  plants  require  high 
and   comparatively    dry   land. 

But  the  animal  life  of  the  Devonian  period  was 
abundant  and  varied.  Not  only  did  the  Mollusks 
hold  a  place,  as  to  numbers,  almost  equalling  that 
of  their  Silurian  congeners,  differing  merely  in 
slight  structural  details,  attaining  perhaps  some- 
thing more  of  symmetry  and  something  more  of 
distinctive  character  ;  and  the  Radiates,  especially 
corals,  multiply  and  extend  with  great  rapidity 
and  contribute  their  short-lived  skeletons  to  the 
forming  rocks,  and  the  Articulate — insect — begin 
to  wing  its  way  upon  the  humid  air,  but  the  fish 
also  appeared,  which,  having  a  backbone,  belongs 
to   the   highest    class   of  animals,  the    Vertebrates. 

The  latter  were  of  considerable  variety  and 
vast  numbers,  insomuch  that  the  period  i«  known 
in  geology  as  the  Age   of  Fishes.     It  was  evidentl> 


112  THE    CREATION. 

also  a  time  of  depredation  and  reprisals  among 
these  denizens  of  the  deep.  And  many 
rSies  ^^  them  were  amply  equipped  for  the 
fray.  They  had  coats  of  mail,  consisting 
of  thick  bony  plates,  with  carapace,  like  a  shield 
about  the  head,  and  sharp  spike-like  teeth  that 
not  only  fitted  them  for  self-defence,  but  must 
have  made  them  the  terror  of  their  less  securely 
armored  neighbors.  But  such  is  the  way  of  animal 
life.  The  stronger  subsist  upon  the  weaker.  And 
but  for  their  prodigious  rapidity  of  increase, 
"  bringing  forth  abundantly,"  the  tribes  of  smaller 
animals  would  long  ago  have  disappeared.  What 
is  lost  in  one  way,  however,  is  gained  in  another, 
and  nature  is  never  defeated  of  her  ends  by  any 
casual    contingency. 

We    move    now  one   step  farther    upward    in  the 
scale. 

Next  in   order  above  the   Devonian  rocks   comes 
the    Carboniferous   system,     including     the 
period        extensive    coal     formations     which    supply 
so   important    a    necessity  to-day.     In  this 
period    the    development    of  plants     was    most     re- 
markable,    both      as     to      numbers      and      variety. 
Hitherto   we    have    found  very  few  higher  than  the 
first     and    lowest     class.      In    the     coal     period    this 
division    still    held    the    leading    place.       They    grew 
to    enormous    size,    and    formed    rank    and    tancjled 


READING    THE  RECORD.  II3 

jungles  in  the  low  and  marshy  districts  which  bor- 
dered on  the  sea,  and  held  some  low  valleys  of 
the    interior. 

The  tree-fern,  the  sigillaria  a  huge  club-moss, 
and  the  calamite  a  giant  rush,  were  among  the 
striking  forms  of  vegetable  life.  To  these  were 
due  the  vast  accumulations  of  vegetable  matter  of 
which  the  coal  beds  were  formed.  Crushed  down 
and  pressed  together  beneath  still  later  rock  for- 
mations, they  lost  their  fibrous  structure  and  were 
thus  metamorphosed  into  the  coal  that  serves  the 
world    so   well. 

But    though    Acrogens    still    held    the    first    rank 
in  point  of  numbers  and  probably  of  size, 
they    did    not     comprise    the    entire    vege-       ^"ants*^ 
tation   of  the   period.       The    higher  types, 
introduced  sparingly    in    the    preceding    period,  now 
advanced  to  a  place  of  some  importance.     Exogens 
appeared    upon  the    uplands    and   drifted,  sometimes 
in    the    form   of  prostrate   trunks,   into  the    swamps, 
where    the    coal    plants  proper   grew.     The  varieties 
of   Exogens   were  few,   however,  and  bore  a  remote 
resemblance   to    some    of  the   pines   of  the    modern 
world. 

The  period  was  remarkable  for  this  fact,  that 
it  first  comprehended  all  the  general  classes  of 
vegetable  life.  What  changes  followed  in  succeed- 
ing   ages    consisted    in    new    orders    and    varieties, 


114  ^'^^^    CREATION. 

not  new  modes  of  growth.  The  system  of  plant 
life    was    complete. 

The  same  remark  will  apply  to  the  animal 
kingdom   in   the   period   of  the  coal  formations. 

The  Protozoans  still  existed  as  they  had  from 
the    early  dawn   of  life.     Among  Radiates 

Variety  of        ,  ,  i  i  •  ,     '        • 

animals,  the  corals  were  less  luxuriant  than  in 
the  preceding  age,  for  much  of  the  shal- 
low sea  had  a  muddy  bottom,  which  corals  do  not 
like. 

The  Mollusks  still  held  important  rank,  and  left 
their  contributions  of  shells  to  the  forming    rocks. 

The  Articulates  grew  into  more  importance,  and 
included  a  few  related  to  the  trilobite,  that  luxu- 
riated in  the  mud  along  the  borders  of  the  seas 
and  lakes,  and  insects  that  crawled  in  and  out 
among  the  reeking  plants,  or  buzzed  and  hummed 
in  myriad  numbers  in  the  moist  warm  atmosphere. 
While  among  Vertebrates,  the  fishes  of  the  Devo- 
nian period  were  greatly  reduced  in  numbers  and 
in  part  superseded  by  different  species  ;  and  several 
varieties  of  creatures  classed  among  the  reptiles 
were  added,  especially  those  of  amphibious  nature. 
The  system  of  life  was  thus  complete,  both  in  the 
animal  and  the  vegetable  kingdoms.  There  were 
no  new  general  classes  or  divisions  to  be  added, 
though  the  variety  of  orders,  families,  and  species 
that    followed   was    almost    numberless. 


READING    THE    RECORD.  II5 

And  now  there  came  a  change  in  the  method 
of  advance  ;    beq-innino-    with  forms   of  ex- 

^  ^  Chancre 

traordinary   size,  first   plants  and   then  ani-  in  method  of 
mals  —  the    natural    order,    observe  —  and 
then    subordinating  size   to    other    and  higher    char- 
acteristics. 

This   series   of  changes  began  in  the  coal  period, 
when    plants   attained    to    gigantic   propor- 
tions,  and   was    followed,  as   we  shall   find      ^  "^t^ 

'  '  Reptiles. 

by    taking    another    upward    step,    by    the 
Reptilian   Age,   during    the   formation    of  the   Meso- 
zoic  (middle  life)  rocks. 

In  this  period  all  the  several  classes  of  animals 
existed,  in  more  or  less  numerous  types,  from  the 
Protozoan  to  the  Vertebrate,  and  the  usual  pro- 
cesses of  rock  formation  went  on  ;  but  the  reptile, 
introduced  sparingly,  in  the  form  of  a  few  swim- 
ming lizards  and  the  like,  in  the  preceding  age, 
now  assumed  the  leading  place  in  the  animal  cre- 
ation, and  gave  name  to  the  age  as  known  in  geo- 
logical   history. 

Among  the  reptiles  of  the  period  were  the  fol- 
lowing : 

The  Plesiosaurus,  a  swimming  saurian,  with 
snake-like  neck  sometimes  of  forty  vertebrae,  a 
small  head,  with  slender  teeth,  a  body  compact 
and  flexible,  and  provided  with  small  paddles  for 
pushing    its    way    through    the    water;    the   Ichthyo- 


Il6  THE    CREATION. 

saurus  (fish-lizard)  unlike  the  foregoing  in  almost 
every  particular,  sometimes  thirty  feet  in  length, 
with  jaws  six  feet  long,  set  with  sabre-like  teeth, 
and  eyes  of  enormous  size  ;  the  Mosasaurus,  the 
sea-serpent  of  the  period,  as  Dana  aptly  describes 
it,  seventy-five  feet  in  length  and  provided  with 
double  rows  of  saw-like  teeth  for  seizing  its  prey 
and  tearing  it;  the  Pterosaurians  (flying  reptiles) 
loathsome  creatures  bearing  some  resemblance  to 
the  modern  bat;  the  Labyrinthodont,  with  the  hab- 
its of  the  frog,  but  as  large  almost  as  a  common 
ox ;  and  the  immense  creatures,  whether  bird  or 
biped  reptile,  is  yet  uncertain,  that  left  their  foot- 
prints in  great  numbers  in  the  red  sandstone  of  the 
Connecticut  valley. 

Prof.  O.  C.  Marsh,  of  Yale  College,  has   also,   by 

his  untiring  industry  and  enterprise,  added 
Prof.  o.  c.  ^  y  V        ^ 

Marsh's       largely    to    the    list    of    reptiles    from    the 
discoveries,    p^^so^oic    rocks    in    the    Rocky    Mountain 
region. 

Chief  among  these  are  the  Holosaurus,  similar 
to  the  Ichthyosaurus,  but  more  serpent-like,  and 
sometimes  seventy-five  feet  in  length  ;  the  Atlanto- 
saurus,  crocodilian  in  type,  but  immensely  larger 
than  the  modern  alligator  ;  and  a  bird  he  names 
the  Hesperornis  *'  essentially  a  carnivorous  swim- 
ming ostrich,"  which  had  teeth,  and  stood  full  six 
feet  high. 


READING    THE  RECORD.  11/ 

There  were  also  great  plants  in  this  age,  as 
there  were  in  the  age  preceding ;  with  an  advance 
in  number  of  those  belonging  to  the  highest  class, 
including  the  sassafras,  hickory,  willow  beech,  and 
poplar.  But  the  reptiles  furnished  the  striking  and 
characteristic  feature  of  the  period.  It  was  the 
Age   of  Reptiles. 

The  next  upward  step  brings  us  to  the  Ceno- 
zoic    (recent    life),    better    known    as    the  The  Tertiary 

,  ,      , .      .  -Ill  formation 

lertiary  period,  and  distmguished  also  as  (Age  of 
the  Age  of  Mammals.  The  name  "  Ter-  Mammals). 
tiary  "  is  retained  from  the  early  nomenclature, 
when  the  terms  primary  and  secondary  were  applied 
to  the  preceding  rock-formations.  It  has  no  special 
appropriateness  now,  but  is  retained  for  old  ac- 
quaintance sake. 

But  the  designation,  ''  Age  of  Mammals,"  is 
specially  appropriate.  The  mammals,  among  ani- 
mals, held  the  leading  place.  The  reptiles,  re- 
manded to  a  subordinate  position,  declined  in  size 
and  numbers.  Among  fishes,  those  with  skeletons 
of  bone  instead  of  cartillage  (introduced  in  the 
preceding  age)  had  become  most  numerous,  and 
there  was  a  general  approach  in  the  animal  king- 
dom  toward   modern   types. 

The  mammals  were  of  large  size,  but  otherwise, 
in  many  points  like  those  that  live  to-day.  Among 
those    characteristic    of  the    period    were    the    Mam- 


ii8  THE  creation: 

moth,  a  gigantic  elephant,  and  the  Mastodon,  the 
Zeuglodon,  bearing  some  resemblance  to  the  whale 
but  with  great  molar-teeth,  and  the  Dinoceras,  a 
huge  creature,  larger  than  the  rhinoceros,  and  very 
similar    in    habit. 

Prof.  Marsh   has   laid    the    scientific   world   under 

Recent  ad-  further    obligations    by    additions    to    this 

ditions  from  ^       ^^^^^    ^^^^     ^^^    tertiary     formations 

our    western  •' 

territories.  of  the  "  Terrcs  mauvaiscs"  (bad  lands)  in 
our  western  territories.  The  list  includes  the  Oro- 
hippus,  Miohippus,  and  their  congeners,  in  which 
Prof.  Huxley  so  confidently  traces  the  lineage  of 
the  horse. 

The     plants     of     the    Tertiary,    included    all    the 
creneral  classes,    but  the  larger  proportion 

Great   plants     ^ 

of  were    of     the    second    and    third,    or    the 

the  Tertiary,  ^^j^^^^  ^^^^  highest  divisions,  and  ap- 
proached in  form  and  variety  those  of  the  present 
time.  Many  of  these,  also,  were  of  extraordinary 
size.  A  fragment  of  a  palm-leaf  found  in  the 
upper  Missouri  region,  must  have  measured  when 
complete,  twelve  feet  in  length,  and  there  were 
trees  closely  related  to  the  giant  Sequoias,  "big 
trees,"  of  California.  The  life  of  the  period  was 
by  no  means  usurped,  however,  by  plants  or  ani- 
mals of  great  size. 

There  are,  both  in  Europe  and  America,  exten- 
sive  deposits   in    the    rocks   of   the  period,   made  up 


READING    THE  RECORD.  1 19 

almost    wholly    of  siliceous    shells,    so    minute,    it    is 
computed     by    Ehrenberg,     that    a    cubic 
inch    contains    more    than    forty    thousand       ^g^^th^ 
millions.     And  the   nummulitic  limestones 
of  Southern  Europe  and   Northern  Africa,  the  same 
of  which  some   of  the   Egyptian  pyramids  are   built, 
are    made    up  chiefly   of  the    shells    of  very    minute 
animals.     The  forms  of  life  were  even  more  numer- 
ous than  they    had    been    before,  and    the    most    in- 
significant  among    them    seems  to    have   filled  some 
important  place  in  the  economy   of  the  world. 

And,  now,  one  more  upward  step  in  the  rock 
formations  and  we  come  to  the  Age  of  ^^^^^^^^^^ 
Man,  of  which  there  is  no  need  that  we  Age  (Age  of 
speak  in  much  detail.  The  period  is 
passing  now.  Intelligence  and  moral  power,  other 
than  those  concerned  in  the  creation  from  the  first, 
are  become  potent  factors  in  the  life  upon  the 
earth  ;  and  all  the  ambitions  and  hopes  of  men  find 
fields  of  exercise  in  the  tasks  it  sets  before  them, 
and  the  rewards   it  holds  out  to  them. 

[The  Quaternary   Age   will    be   discussed  in    Lec- 
ture X/.] 

Our  life  history  of  the  earth  is  now  complete. 

We  began  with  its  early  dawning.     We 
found    the    evidence    of   plants    remaining       Review, 
in   the    graphite    mines,    where    the    plants 
themselves   had    disappeared.      We    found    next    the 


I20  THE    CREATION. 

simplest  class  of  plants  in  fossil.  Next  came  a 
few,  sparingly  distributed,  which  rank  in  the  higher 
class,  herbs  bearing  seed  ;  and  lastly,  growing  side 
by  side  with  these,  the  fruit  and  nut-growing  trees. 

We  turned,  then,  to  the  animal  kingdom.  Con- 
temporaneous with  these  varieties  of  plants  we 
found  the  various  classes  of  the  animal  world. 
The  Protozoan  first  ;  a  mere  ''  moving  thing,"  al- 
most destitute  of  organism,  but  followed  in  an  up- 
ward scale  by  the  Radiate  (coral),  the  MoUusk 
(shell-fish),  the  Articulate  (insect),  and  the  Ver- 
tebrate, beginning  with  the  fishes  and  advancing 
to  the  reptile,  bird,  quadruped,  and  man.  Our 
task  is  done.  We  have  read  the  record  in  the 
rocks. 

We  have    made  no  attempt,  it    will  be  observed, 
to    estimate   the   age    of  the    earth,   or    to 
^^earth^^^    calculate  that    of  any    single    layer    of  the 
rocks.       It    cannot    be    done,     except    ap- 
proximately, and  then  with    much  uncertainty. 

It  is  computed  it  may  require  a  thousand  years, 
under  ordinary  circumstances,  to  form  a  bed  of 
limestone  one  foot  in  depth,  and  possibly  five  to 
ten  thousand  years  to  form  one  foot  of  coal. 

Lyell  estimates  the  accumulations  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi delta  at  about  nineteen  inches  in  a  century, 
and  that  of  the  Nile  mud  at  less  than  four  inches. 
Dana    computes    the   most     rapid    growth    of    coral 


READING    THE   RECORD.  121 

reefs  at  one  sixteenth  of  an  inch  per  annum,  and 
Le  Conte  estimates  it  at  one  to  two  feet  in  a 
century.     But  all   such  data  are  illusive. 

Two  beds  of  rock  forming  side  by  side  may 
differ  in  their  rates  of  growth,  and  the  same  bed 
may  vary  from  year  to  year,  or  century  to  century. 
It  depends  on  the  material  at  command,  and  on 
the  regularity  of  the  currents  by  which  it  is  de- 
posited. It  is  comparatively  easy  to  decide  which 
strata  are  the  oldest,  by  their  position  or  by  the 
fossils  they  contain.  But  we  know  nothing  defi- 
nite of  the  time  required  to  form  them,  nor  of 
the  time  that  has  elapsed  since  they  were  com- 
pacted. 

There  are  other  means  of  estimating  the  age  of 
the  earth,  as  a  whole,  as  by  its  temperature  and  the 
erosive  action  of  water,  and  yet  the  best  authori- 
ties  differ  widely  on   the  subject. 

A  distinguished  astronomer  estimates  the  age 
of  the  earth  since  a  crust  first  formed  upon  it  at 
fifty-seven  million  years.  Sir  William  Thompson 
calculates  it  at  one  hundred  million  years.  The 
evolutionists  demand  more  time.  They  say,  what- 
ever may  be  the  necessities  of  rock  formations, 
that  a  hundred  million  years  is  not  sufficient  for 
the  Ascidian  to  develop  into  a  man.  We  suspect 
they  are  correct.  But  Prof.  Proctor  would  seem  to 
satisfy    all    reasonable    demands    in    this    direction, 


122  THE  CREATION. 

when  he  places  the  age  of  the  earth  at  four  hun- 
dred and  fifty  milHon  years.  But  we  have  said 
enough  to  indicate  the  uncertain  character  of  all 
such  calculations.  We  can  reach  but  one  sure  and 
safe  conclusion ;  that  if  we  estimate  the  time  in 
years,   the   earth   is   very  old. 


GEOLOGICAL   CHART. 


123 


Eras. 

Ages. 

Characteristic   Life. 

u 

0 

N 

K 

Quaternary  Age, 

or 

Age  of  Man. 

Periods  or  Epochs 

of  the 

Quaternary. 

Present. 
Terrace. 
Chaniplain. 
Glacial. 

u 

Tertiary  Age, 

or 

Age  of  Mammals. 

Palm,  Magnolia,  Myrtle,  Fig,  Beech,  Pop- 
lar, Maple,  Oak. 

Infusoria,  Oyster,  Fishes,  Peccary,  Masto- 
don,  Rhinoceros,  Orohippus,  Miohippus. 

u 
0 

° 

w 

Mesozoic  Age, 

or 
Age  of  Reptiles. 

Cycads,  Conifers,  Plane-tree,  Willow,  Sas- 
safras, Holly,  Redwood,  Cypress. 

Plesiosauras,  Ichthyosaurus,  Pterodactyl, 
Labyrinthodont,  Atlantosaurus,  Ammo- 
nite, Hesperornis. 

Carboniferous  Age, 

or 
Age  of  Coal  Plants. 

Tree-ferns,  Sigillaria,  Lepidodendron,  Cal- 

amite,  Conifers. 
Rhizopods,  Corals,  Crinoids,  Snails,  Insects, 

Lizards,  Amphibians. 

0 

N 

w 
<: 

Ph 

Devonian  Age, 

or 
Age  of  Fishes. 

Ferns,  Lycopods,  Conifers. 
Corals,  Spirifer,  Nautilus,  Trilobite, 
Fishes  (Ganoids  and  Sharks). 

Silurian  Age, 
or 

Age  of  Mollusks. 

Sea-Weeds  (Fucoids). 

Sponge,  Coral,  Crinoid,  Trilobite, 

Mollusks,  in  great  variety. 

c 

Laurentian  Age. 

Sea- Weeds. 
Eozoon. 

Igneous  Rocks — Lifeless  Period. 


VII, 


Man. 


"  God  created  man  in  his  own  image." 

"  Still  I  own 
A  love  that  spreads  from  zone  to  zone  ; 
No  time  the  sacred  fire  can  smother  ! 
Where  breathes  the  man,  I  hail  the  brother. 
Man  !  how  sublime — from  heaven  his  birth — 
The  God's  bright  image  walks  the  earth  ! 
And  if,  at  times,  his  footstep  strays, 
I  pity  where  I  may  not  praise." 


VII. 


ORIGIN    OF     MAN    AND    UNITY     OF    THE 
RACE. 

A  GENIAL  writer  of  our  own  time  has  said : 
"  Once  the  great    question  with  men  was, 

The 

Where  are  we  all  going  to?  Now  the  question  of 
question  that  commands  chief  attention  Ongm. 
is,  Where  did  we  all  come  from  ? "  And  in  the 
present  state  of  the  public  mind  it  is  hardly  pos- 
sible to  allude  to  the  history  of  man  or  his  rela- 
tions to  the  world,  but  that  this  question  will 
come  to   the    front. 

The  old  familiar  theory  is  that  man  was  a 
direct  and  immediate  creation  of  God.  Another 
theory  is  that  he  has  developed,  by  a  process 
called  Evolution,  out  of  the  lower  orders  of  the 
animal  kingdom.  The  latter  theory  assumes  dif- 
ferent forms,  but  the  one  best  known,  perhaps,  is 
that  coupled  with  the  name  of  Charles  Darwin,  and 
known    as  "  Evolution  by   Natural  Selection." 

There    is,    first,    a    difference    of    opinion    among 


128  THE    CREATION-. 

evolutionists    themselves   as    to  the  primal  origin   of 

life;    some    assuming    that    life    is    a    pro- 
Doctrine  ^ 
of          duct    of  matter   in  certain  conditions,   and 

Evolution.  .  . 

Others  that  at  some  remote  period  in 
the  earth's  history  germs  of  life  were  introduced, 
out  of  which  all  the  forms  of  life  have  grown. 
Without  attempting  to  settle  definitely  the  ques- 
tion of  primal  origin,  Mr.  Darwin's  theory,  as  we 
read  it,  is  this — that  after  life  was  started  on  the 
earth,  there  were  sufficient  causes  in  nature  to  bring 
out  of  the  first  germs  all  the  varieties  that  have 
since  existed.  As  a  single  illustration  of  the  prin- 
ciple involved,  it  is  said,  that  the  flipper  of  the 
whale,  the  wing  of  the  bird,  the  fore-leg  of  the 
quadruped,  and  the  arm  of  man  are  essentially  the 
same  in  structure;  and  each  in  turn  developed  out 
of  the  next  lower  and  preceding  type,  and  that 
similar  analogies  may  be  traced  in  other  parts  of 
the  body ;  that  fiuiction  determines  form,  and  that 
the  use  a  member  of  the  body  serves  determines 
the   shape  it   takes. 

There  is  no  time  now  to  trace  the  evidence  in 
detail  for  or  against  this  theory.  But  after  a 
somewhat  careful  consideration  of  the  subject,  and 
much  that  has  been  said  and  written  upon  it, 
we  are  constrained  to  say  that  so  far  as  revealing 
any  connection  between  man  and  the  brutes,  the 
doctrine   of  evolution   fails   utterly. 


ORIGIN   OF  MAN.  1 29 

Our    reasons    for    such     decided     statement     are 
these : — 

Mr.    Darwin's    theory    proceeds    on    the    assump- 
tion that  "  nature  makes    no  leaps  ;  "  that      postulate 
the    change    from    one    animal    or   race    to  of 

Darwinism. 

its  mnnediate  follower  must  be  very 
slight.  And,  therefore,  that  if  two  animals  differ 
in  any  considerable  degree,  it  is  certain  that  the 
one  did  not  proceed  directly  from  the  other,  but 
that  there  were  intermediate  links,  even  though 
we  do  not  find  those  links  and  cannot  prove  that 
such    ever  existed. 

Now  the  nearest  approach  to  man  is  in  that 
type  of  the  monkey  tribe  known  as  the 
Ape.  Mr.  Huxley,  in  a  little  book  en-  ^\pe 
titled  "  Man's  Place  in  Nature,"  has  very 
carefully  traced  out  certain  striking  resemblances 
between  the  ape  and  man.  And  Prof.  Mivart  has 
ably  supplemented  him  in  his  "  Man  and  Apes." 
The  brain  of  the  largest  anthropoid  ape  is  smaller, 
the  chest  larger,  the  lower  limbs  shorter,  the  upper 
limbs  much  longer  than  in  man.  The  ape  can 
walk  on  two  feet  like  man,  though  he  generally 
goes  on  four.  He  can  stand  quite  erect,  though 
more  inclined  to  a  stooping  posture.  But  while 
it  is  possible  for  the  ape  thus  to  stand  and  walk, 
the  arrangement  of  the  bones  and  position  of  the 
brain    plainly    indicate    that    his    natural    position    is 


130  THE    CREATION. 

on  four  feet  rather  than  on  two.  Such  are  some 
of  the  considerations  on  which  the  argument  for  a 
genetic  connection  between  man  and  the  ape  are 
based. 

But  the  theory  that  there  has  been  a  series  of 
advances  from  the  lowest  animals,  through  the  mon- 
key tribe,  culminating  in  man,  is  involved  in  grave 
perplexities,  unless  we  suppose  some  characteris- 
tic of  the  animal,  though  lost  to  its  immediate 
offspring,  may  be  recovered  by  a  remoter  genera- 
tion. The  highest  tribes  of  monkies  do  not  show 
the  closest  resemblance  to  man.  The  gorilla  is 
accounted  the  highest,  or  possibly  the  chimpanzee 
may  have  equal  rank.  The  baboon  and  gibbon 
stand  lower,  and  the  spider  monkey  lowest  of  all 
the  old  world  tribes.  But  in  point  of  anatomical 
structure,  the  lower  approach  man  more  nearly  than 
those  that  hold  the  highest  rank.  For  instance, 
man  has  twelve  pairs  of  ribs  and  five  lumbar  ver- 
tebrse.  The  gorilla  has  thirteen  pairs  of  ribs  and 
three  or  four  vertebrse,  while  some  of  the  lower 
apes  have  the  same  number,  both  of  ribs  and  ver- 
tebrse as  man.  Long  hair  on  the  head  and  face, 
resembling  that  of  man,  is  found  in  some  of  the 
lower  apes;  never  in  the  highest.  In  the  arrange- 
ment and  structure  of  the  teeth,  the  half-apes  re- 
semble man  more  nearly  than  the  highest  species. 
The  ape  having  the  frontal  shape  of  the  skull  most 


ORIGIN  OF  MAN.  131 

like  man  ranks  fourth  in  the  scale  below  the  go 
rilla  or  chimpanzee.  In  fact  there  is  no  regularly 
ascending  series  culminating  in  man,  or  distinctly 
pointing  to  him. 

Mr.  Darwin  admits  this  anomaly,  and  calls  it 
Reversion,  on  the  samic  principle,  as  we 
interpret  him,  that  a  child  may  have  the  ^f  ^gj^'^^g^^j^^ 
black  eyes  of  its  grandfather  though  its 
father's  eyes  are  blue  and  its  mother's  gray ;  and 
that  it  may  show  some  other  resemblance  to  an- 
cestors still  more  remote.  But  this  theory  as  ap- 
plied to  anatomical  structure,  is  a  direct  contradic- 
tion of  the  principle  on  which  he  lays  so  much 
stress,  that  evolution  by  natural  selection  requires  a 
constant  advance. 

Moreover,  naturalists  tell  us  that  in  all  the 
higher    groups    of    animals    their    relative 

Brain  of  man 

rank  is  determined  by  the  brain.  Now  ^nd  ape. 
we  have  the  best  authority  for  saying 
that  the  largest  ape's  brain  measures  not  more 
than  thirty-four  and  a  half  inches,  while  the  small- 
est brain  of  man — with  very  rare  exceptions — meas- 
ures sixty-three  inches ;  that  of  man  being  nearly 
double  that  of  the  ape.  And  this  is  the  propor. 
tion  Mr.   Huxley  adopts  in  his  comparison. 

There  is  no  animal  that  comes  between  these 
two  ;  and  so  far  as  we  can  ascertain  there  never 
was   an   animal   whose  rank   would  place  it  between 


132  THE    CREATION. 

them.  There  is  no  connecting  link  living — no  trace 
of  any  in  the  recent  rocks.  And  now,  recalling  the 
postulate  on  which  Mr.  Darwin's  theory  proceeds, 
that  if  animals  differ  in  any  considerable  degree  it 
is  certain  that  one  did  not  proceed  directly  from 
the  other,  but  that  there  were  several  links  between 
— here  are  two  animals  differing  by  one  half  in  the 
size  of  the  brain.  It  is  not  possible  for  nature  to 
make  such  a  leap,  and  the  one  could  not,  therefore, 
have  sprung  directly  from  the  other.  If  there  is 
any,  connection  between  them  it  must  be  through 
intermediate  links.  But  there  are  no  intermediate 
links,  and  no   evidence  that   such  links  ever   existed. 

Prof.  Asa  Gray  suggests  that  man  did  not  de- 
scend from  the  monkey,  but  that  the  line 
suggestion.  ^^  development  branched  farther  back. 
But  this  only  makes  the  possibility  of 
tracing  man's   lineage  the   more  hopeless. 

This,  then,  is  the  ground  of  the  statement  that 
so  far  as  man  is  concerned,  the  doctrine  of  evolu- 
tion by  natural  selection,  or  by  the  operation  of 
merely  natural  causes,  fails   utterly  and   absolutely. 

We  are  aware  that  some  attempt  is  made  to  ex- 
plain the  absence  of  these  supposed  inter- 

The   "Miss-  ,.    ^ 

ing  Links."    mediate   types: 

I.  It  is  said  that  their  remains  may 
have  perished  with  the  lapse  of  ages.  That  might 
be    possible,    if   the    monkey    had    existed    in    very 


ORIGIN  OF  MAN.  133 

remote  times.  But,  on  the  contrary,  it  is  quite  a 
recent  animal ;  the  earliest  fossils  not  dating  back 
beyond   the  Cenozoic,   or  recent  rocks. 

II.  It  is  said,  again,  that  some  great  convul- 
sion of  nature,  even  in  recent  times,  may  have  de- 
stroyed all  or  most  of  the  animals  existing  at  the 
time,  and  these  intermediate  types  may  have  been 
among  them.  But  there  are  the  most  abundant 
fossils  of  other  animals  covering  the  whole  of  the 
recent  period ;  so  that  if  higher  tribes  of  monkeys 
or  lower  tribes  of  men  had  existed,  it  is  hardly 
possible  that  all  trace  of  them  could  have  disap- 
peared. 

III.  Another  curious  and  certainly  very  slender 
assumption  is  based  on  the  fact  that  casual  men- 
tion is  made  by  some  ancient  authors,  of  an  island 
called  Atlantis;  and,  since  no  such  island  is  known 
to-day,  it  is  gravely  assumed  that  it  has  disap- 
peared in  the  sea,  and  that  it  may  have  carried 
down   the   missing  links. 

In   reply,  it  may  be  said: 

1.  There     is    no    sufficient     evidence    that     there 

ever     was    such     an     island     as     Atlantis. 

The   myth 

Atlantis.      There    is    no    mention    of    it    in  authentic 
history,  and    the    occasional    allusions    and 
traditions   do   not  agree   as  to   its   locality. 

2.  If  there  ever  was  such  an  island,  it  is  by  no 
means  certain   that    it   has   disappeared,   for    it    may 


134  THE    CREATION. 

be  known  to-day  by  some  other  name  ;  as  the 
island  of  Corfu  is  the  Corcyra  of  two  or  three 
thousand  years  ago,  and  the  ancient  names  of 
some   places  have  been  lost   beyond   recovery. 

3.  Suppose  there  was  such  an  island,  and  that 
in  some  great  convulsion  it  did  disappear  beneath 
the  waves,  there  is  still  not  one  shred  of  proof 
that  it  carried  down  man  or  monkey,  or  anything 
even  remotely  allied   to  either  of  them. 

And  still,  on  such  precarious  threads  will  men 
hang  sober  arguments  to  bolster  a  doubtful  cause 
or  defend  a  favorite  theory.  And  Prof.  Hseckel, 
the  most  daring  and  least  reliable  of  all  the  prom- 
inent evolutionists,  expresses  his  philosophical  dis- 
may, not  to  say  his  natural  disgust,  that  intelligent 
men  of  science  will  longer  doubt  the  doctrine  of 
evolution. 

If,  then,  man  was  not  developed  by  natural 
causes  out  of  the  inferior  animals,  whence  came  he? 

Here  we  find  ourselves  compelled  to  fall  back 
on  that  very  ancient  document,  the  opening  of  the 
book  of  Genesis,  not  because  it  is  the  only  evi- 
dence we  have,  but  because  we  find  the  matter 
nowhere  else  so  clearly  and   so   concisely  stated. 

"And    God   said,    let    us   make  man    in 

The  Hebrew  1,1  1  1 

record.       our   own    image ;    and    let    them    have  do- 
minion over  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and   over 
the  fowl  of  the  air,  and  over  the  cattle  and  over  all 


ORIGIN   OF  MAN.  1 35 

the  earth.  So  God  created  man  in  His  own  image." 
Of  man's  mastery  in  the  earth  and  over  it,  we  can 
ourselves  bear  witness,  for  that  mastery  he  still  re- 
tains. And  after  all  that  has  been  said  and  writ- 
ten, it  must  be  confessed  this  is  the  only  theory  of 
the  origin  of  man  that  after  each  assault  and  par- 
tial surrender  but  roots  itself  the  deeper  in  the 
minds  and    hearts  of   men. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the  word  "  create," 
used  in  the  beginning  with  reference  to  the  world 
as  a  whole,  is  used  here  with  reference  to  man, 
and  that  it  occurs  but  once  between,  and  then,  as  it 
seems,  incidentally.  Whether  we  are  to  understand 
by  this,  that  the  creation  of  man  was  more  a  direct 
operation  of  the  divine  power  than  the  creation  of 
other  animals  and  of  the  plants,  or  whether  it  is 
merely  a  recurrence  of  the  word  to  avoid  repetition 
of  another,  we   do  not  attempt  to  decide. 

But  certain  it  is  that  in  the  beginning  the  world 
is  said  to  have  been  due  to  the  immediate  act  of 
the  Creator^  nothing  else  intervening.  So  here  it 
is  said  God  created  man.  It  was  thus  the  act  of 
God,  and  the  culmination  of  His  plan  in  the  world. 

But  right  here  we   encounter  another  perplexing 
problem.     It  relates    to  the  different  races 
of    man.     Did    they   have   a    common    ori-    question  of 
ein  ?     Our  answer  must  be  brief. 

In  the  first  place,  all    men,  whatever    their    land 


136  THE    CREATION. 

or  origin,  have  almost  the  same  anatomical  struc- 
ture, with  similar  habits  both  of  body  and  mind. 
They  are  subject  to  the  same  diseases.  They  live, 
under  like  conditions,  about  the  same  length  of 
time.  They  all  shape  implements  and  make  use  of 
fire.  They  all  believe  in  God  ;  all  resort  to  prayer  ; 
all  have  funeral  ceremonies  over  their  dead,  and  all 
believe  in  a  future  life.  There  are  individual  ex- 
ceptions, but  this  is  the  rule.  And  that  they  are  all 
of  one  species  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  any  two 
races  may  intermarry,  and  the  increase  will  go  on 
as  if  each  race  was   confined   wholly  to   itself. 

But  there  are  a  variety  of  races  differing  in  color 
and  to  some  extent  in  physiognomy.  Whence  came 
these  differences  ?  As  they  are  found  divided  as  to 
geographical  locality,  it  has  been  suggested,  that 
they  originated  in  different  sections  of  the  world, 
and  sprang  from  different  progenitors.  But  before 
we  make  any  such  assumption  it  is  well  to  con- 
sider whether  climate  and  habits  of  life  may  not 
in  process  of  time,  produce  these  differences, 
though  all   were  of  the    same  family  to  begin  with. 

I.  As  to  geography  and  clime.  In  northern 
Europe    the    characteristic    complexion    is 

Climatic 

variations,     light,  and    the   hair    is   light    and    straight : 

witness  the  Swedes.     In  southern    Europe, 

the  characteristic   complexion   is   dark,    and    the   hair 

black  with  a  tendency  to  curl :  witness   the   French 


ORIGIN   OF  MAN.  I  37 

and  Italians.  In  the  interior  of  Europe,  as  in 
Gernaany,  these  characteristics  are  not  so  marked 
either  way.  In  other  words,  they  are  between  the 
two  extremes,  as  the  locality  is  between  the  two 
first-named.  Then  cross  to  Arabia  and  Egypt,  and 
we  find  the  complexion  still  more  dark  and  the 
countenance  still  more  widely  different  from  those 
of  the  north.  And  yet  there  is  no  doubt  that 
these  all  belong  to  the  same  race.  The  Swede,  the 
Frenchman,  and  the  Arab  all  belong  to  the  Cau- 
casian race.  If  we  go  into  the  interior  of  Africa 
we  shall  find  people  with  black  skin  and  woolly 
hair.  But  on  the  coast  of  Mozambique  are  peo- 
ple about  as  dark  skinned  as  Africans,  with  feat- 
ures more  like  the  Arab,  while  on  their  heads 
they  have  a  crisply  curled  or  frizzled  hair,  some- 
thing between  the  curly  hair  of  southern  Europe 
and   the   wool    of  Africa. 

2.  Then  take  a  single  illustration  that  can  be 
traced  somewhat  easily.  There  is  no  people  of 
more  marked  physiognomical  expression  than  the 
Jews — dark  complexion,  round  face,  and  black  hair. 
Moreover,  as  they  rarely  intermarry  with  other  peo- 
ple, these  features  are  remarkably  well  preserved. 
And  yet  in  some  of  the  bitter  persecutions  that 
befel  the  Jews  centuries  ago,  some  of  them  took 
refuge  in  Northern  Russia ;  and  though  they  are 
not  believed  to  have    intermarried  with    others,   but 


138  THE   CREATION. 

to  be  still  pure-blooded  Jews,  there  are  some  among 
them  now  with  red  hair  and  blue  eyes.  Such 
changes  are  wrought,  in  the  course  of  a  few  gen- 
erations, by  climate  and  condition.  And  it  is  evi- 
dent that  the  variations  might  be  greater  still,  if 
the  time  was  longer  and  the  change  of  climate 
and   condition   yet  more  radical. 

So,  notwithstanding  all  the  speculations  on  the 
subject,  it  must  be  said  in  all  candor,  there  is  no 
sufficient  proof,  as  yet,  that  there  was  more  than 
one  primal  pair;  but  that  all  men  are  of  one  family 
and   one  blood. 

But  even  if  it  should  be  proved  that  there  were 

more    than    one    primal    pair,  it   does  not 

historic      invalidate  the    account    given    in    Genesis, 

for     since    human     nature    is    everywhere 

essentially    the    same,    the    record    of    the    one    pair 

would    serve    as    an    example    for    the    whole.     We 

should  then  say  that  Adam  and   Eve  were    the  Jiis- 

toric  pair;  the  ones  chosen  as  representatives  of  the 

whole.* 

What,  then,  of  the  constitution  of  man?  "So 
God    created    man    in    his    own     image."      No    one 

*  As  these  pages  go  to  press  a  volume  by  Dr.  Alexander  Win- 
chell  appears,  entitled  "  Pre-Adamites,"  in  which  the  author  as- 
sumes, what  others  had  before  suggested,  that  Adam  was  the  progeni- 
tor only  of  the  white  race.  On  the  other  hand,  Dr.  E.  B.  Tylor, 
of  London,  a  very  high  authority,  says  recent  evidences  greatly 
strengthen  the  probability  that  all  men  are  of  one  original  stock. 


ORIGIN   OF  MAN.  1 39 

probably  supposes  the  likeness  here  to  be  in  physi- 
cal form  or  appearance,  or  if  in  that,  not  in  that 
alone. 

In  bodily  constitution,  man  is  an  animal.  He 
is  made  up  of  organs  and  parts  having 
each  a  specific  function.  He  is  flesh  and  an  animaU 
bone  and  blood  ;  fed  with  nutritious  food, 
baned  with  poisons  —  suffering  from  neglect,  from 
disease  or  accident,  and  returning  to  the  dust  when 
the  life  is  gone  out  of  him.     So  far  he  is  an  animal. 

But  this  is  not  all  of  him  ;  this  is  not  what  makes 
him   a   man   as   distins^uished   from   an  ani-      ,^     , 

^  Man  has 

mal.  He  has  spiritual  faculties,  as  well  also  spiritual 
as  animal  powers  ;  and  in  tJiis  is  he  cre- 
ated in  the  divine  similitude.  He  has  intellect- 
ual faculties  of  such  breadth  and  strength  that  no 
one  has  ever  dared  to  say  what  achievements  he 
might  attain  ;  for  in  the  narrow  span  of  human 
life  there  is  not  time  to  get  these  powers  fairly  into 
working  order.  He  has  sentiments  and  impulses 
out  of  which  grow  the  humanest  sympathies  and 
the  sweetest  charities;  and  aspirations  that  lead 
him  to  holiness  of  life  and  to  supreme  trust  in 
the  power  above  that  is  more  than  life.  All  the 
heroes  and  the  martyrs  that  glorify  the  pages  of 
history  go  to  tell  us  there  is  something  more  in 
man  than  that  which  grows  out  of  fleshly  tissue 
and    bony    structure.      Admit    that    there    are    bold 


140  THE   CREATION. 

contrasts  and  sharp  distinctions  among  men;  one 
man  base  almost  to  the  level  of  brutality,  and  an- 
other self-sacrificing  and  devoted  as  man  can  be,  the 
contrast  only  shows  the  more  clearly,  the  difference 
between  that  which  is  merely  brutish  and  that 
which  constitutes  the  man.  So  let  us  understand 
what  man  is  in  his  natural  constitution.  Then  we 
can  trace  his  history.  One  broad  distinction  be- 
tween man  and  the  inferior  animal  is  that  the  lat- 
ter is  controlled  by  instincts  ;  the  former  is  the  sub- 
ject of  his  own  intelligence.  We  do  not  mean  that 
man  has  no  instincts,  for  he  has  ;  or  that  the  ani- 
mal shows  no  trace  of  reason,  for  he  does.  But 
that  the  practical  limit  of  reason  is  soon  reached 
in  the  animal,  and  then  in  emergency  he  falls  back 
on  his  instinct,  while  in  man  instinct  is  soon  out- 
grown by  the  exercise  of  reason,  and  to  that  ex- 
ercise no  limit  in  all  experience  has  ever  been  ap- 
proached. So  marked  is  this  difference  between 
the  animal  and  man,  that  we  do  not  hesitate  to 
condemn  in  the  one  what  we  praise  without  stint  in 
the  other.  The  dog  droops  and  dies  on  the  grave 
of  his  dead  master,  and  we  admire  his  fidelity;  but 
it  would  be  an  ignoble  thing  for  a  man  to  do. 
When  Hamlet  in  the  play  leaps  into  the  grave 
of  Ophelia,  if  he  were  a  dog  he  would  crouch 
and  perish  there.  But  because  he  is  not  a  dog, 
but    a    living  soul — with  hopes  and  faith  and  aspira- 


ORIGIN  OF  MAN.  I4I 

tions,  he  rouses  himself  from  his  deep  despondency, 
and  comes  forth  to  battle  yet  farther  with  the  stern 
realities  of  an  already  overshadowed  life.  In  the 
fact  that  man  was  created  in  the  image  of  God  we 
find  the  explanation,  then,  of  the  various  powers 
and  faculties  that  exalt  him  above  the  animal. 

What,   finally,  of  his  history  ? 

The  same  record  that  tells  us  he  was  given 
dominion    over  the  earth,  orives  us  farther 

'    ^  History 

on  a  picture  of  his  life  in  a  "  garden,"  or  of 

in  "  a  land  of  loveliness,"  as  some  authors 
render  it,  wherein,  to  the  outward  seeming,  was 
everything  necessary  for  the  sustenance  and  pros- 
perity of  human  life.  But  a  strange  blight  soon 
came  over  this  auspicious  opening,  for  these  favored 
subjects  disobeyed  the  law  of  God  and  fell  ;  and 
thence  came  pains  and  penalties  they  had  never 
known  before. 

And,  now,  how  came   this  strange  event  about  ? 

There  is  nothing  more  natural  in  the  experience 
of   the    human    race.     It    was  the    beq-in- 

^  Duty 

ning  of  that  long  conflict  which  is   as  old  vs. 

as    human    nature,   and    destined    possibly 
to  continue    as    long  as  man  dwells    upon  the  earth 
— ''  the  conflict  of  duty   with  desire." 

Desire  is  here  presented  in  the  figure  of  the 
serpent.  The  serpent  has  no  power  of  speech  or 
other   means    of  communicating   thought    to    man — 


142  THE    CREA  TION. 

if  thought  it  ever  had.  But  nothing  is  so  sugges- 
tive of  the  serpent  that  comes  upon  us  unawares, 
as  that  subtle  something  we  call  temptation,  which 
is  rooted  in  the  very  nature  of  every  moral  being, 
or  every  being  that  takes  account  of  right  and 
wroncr.  And  it  was  because  human  nature  was  so 
constituted,  that  the  conflict  began  in  Eden  with 
such  consequences  as  are  written  in  the  biblical 
account.  Eden  was  a  state  of  innocence.  That 
is  what  especially  distinguishes  it  in  our  minds 
to-day.  It  was  a  state  of  ignorance  as  well.  This 
is  a  point  we  are  apt  to  overlook ;  that  human 
education  as  yet  was  scarce  begun.  There  was  no 
history,  there  was  no  observation,  there  was  no 
experience  of  human  life  ;  none  of  the  agencies  by 
which  men  grow  and  learn.  There  is  danger  that 
in  our  contemplation  of  this  subject  we  shall  for- 
get one  of  these  potent  facts,  in  our  admiration 
for  the  other. 

They    were    created    in    innocence    and    in  ignor- 
^.     ,       ance;    innocent    as    the    little   child,   which 

Primal 

condition  of  is  unconscious  of  immodcsty  or  any  sense 
of  shame,  though  utterly  unclad  ;  ignorant 
of  any  such  thing  as  good  and  evil,  or  that  there 
was  any  difference  between  them.  So  much  the 
record  implies,  in  the  very  plainest  terms.  But  in 
them  was  born  a  disposition  to  inquire  and  learn ; 
a    spirit   of  curiosity,    if  you    choose   to    call    it    so  : 


ORIGIN  OF  MAN.  143 

an  inclination  to  pry  into  the  hidden  things  about 
them. 

Put  your  child,  who  has  not  yet  learned  to  stand 
in  awe  of  you,  into  a  room  in  which  is  every- 
thing that  can  amuse  and  entertain,  and  say  to 
him,  ''You  may  have  free  range  here,  except  in 
that  drawer ;  there  is  something  you  must  not 
see."  That  is  the  very  first  place  he  will  go  to. 
That  is  human  nature.  And  it  is  not  a  vicious 
disposition.  It  is  the  spirit  of  inquiry  and  dis- 
covery, which,  to  whatever  strange  excesses  and  sad 
results  it  may  lead  us  sometimes,  is  the  key  to  all 
progress. 

The  first  pair  in  Eden  were  warned  before  the 
act,  it  is  said,  but  there  is  nothing  that  teaches 
like  experience.  And  in  the  absence  of  any  chance 
to  observe  effects  in  others,  a  warning  is  but  a 
theory  that  lacks  confirmation.  The  little  child  at- 
tracted by  the  burning  taper,  tries  to  seize  it  with 
his  hand.  The  mother  warns  him  a  hundred  times, 
and  still  he  does  not  understand  what  harm  there 
can  be  in  it.  Let  him  get  his  hand  into  the  blaze 
but   once,   and   it  satisfies  him   for  a  lifetime. 

In  this  we  have  an  example  in  different  form  of 
the  experience  that  came  to  man  in  paradise,  and 
has  been  a  regular  inheritance  of  each  generation 
and  of  every  human  being  from  then  till  now ;  and 
what   did   the   first   pair  learn   from   this  experience! 


144  THE    CREATION. 

I.  That  there  was  a  Power  above  them  to  which 
^     ,         they  were  in  subjection. 

Results  ^  ^ 

of  2.  That     there     was    such    a    thing     in 

human  life  as  duty,  and  obligation,  and 
responsibility. 

But  that  which  most  forcibly  impressed  itself 
upon  them,  and  that  is  magnified  in  the  account, 
was  that  there  w^as  a  penalty  attached  to  disobe- 
dience. And  they  learned  at  once,  therefore,  the 
advantage  of  a  strict  observance  of  the  divine  law 
in  relation  to  human  life.  And  thus  it  was  that, 
from  their  first  estate  of  ignorance,  their  "  eyes 
were  opened,"  and  they  knew  good  and  evil — 
though    from    their  estate    of    innocence    they    fell. 

Man  was  turned  out  of  Eden,  it  is  said.  And 
who,  from  his  childish  innocence  has  come  to  be 
conscious  of  base  desires  and  evil  purposes,  has  not 
realized  something  very  like  this  in  his  own  ex- 
perience ?  Who  that  goes  on  in  evil  ways  does 
not  sometimes  feel  himself  estranged  from  God  and 
all  pure  and  holy  things,  while  his  own  conscience 
is  the  watchful  guardian,  with  flaming  sword,  that 
keeps  the  gate.  Adam  was  not  to  be  an  idle  spec- 
tator of  the  world ;  his  task  was  set  "  to  dress 
and  keep  the  garden  "  when  he  was  first  placed 
therein.  And  so  to  work  is  the  mission  of  man 
on  the  earth,  and  always  was.  And  while  this,  in 
obedience   to    intelligence    and    law,   may  be    only   a 


ORIGIN    OF  MAN.  1 45 

delight,  we  know  full  well  how  indolence  and  vice 
and  crime  multiply  the  hardships  and  penalties  of 
life.  Adam  was  the  first  to  pass  through  this  ex- 
perience, and  so  he  stands  for  the  human  race 
throughout  the  Bible  record ;  but  he  was  not  the 
last. 

Every  child  born  into  this  world  repeats,  with 
more  or  less  completeness,  the  experience 

^  ^  Human 

of  this  far-off  progenitor.  He  has  his  experience 
little  experience  of  Eden  to  begin  with,  ^^^^^ 
when  in  unconscious  innocence  he  knows  nothing 
of  evil  or  of  good  ;  nothing  of  duty,  responsibility, 
or  obligation.  He  soon  passes  that,  for  he  has  an 
inheritance  of  evil  tendencies,  whatever  may  have 
been   the   fact   at  first. 

He  soon  passes  the  early  stage,  we  repeat — 
"  dies  to  innocence."  And  the  long  and  old-time 
conflict  between  duty  and  desire  begins,  with  such 
variety   of  results  as  we  witness  in  human  life. 

And  is  every  human  life  a  failure,  then  ?  Nay, 
not   so.     There   was   an   Eden  back   of  us ;    ,, 

Human  life 

there     is    a   paradise    beyond.       The    first         not 

...  1  a  failure. 

was  given  us  as  our  inheritance  ;  the 
other  we  must  win.  The  penalty  that  followed 
the  first  disobedience  was  offset  in  some  degree  by 
the  knowledge  that  it  gave  of  the  law  that  guards 
and  limits  the  conduct  of  man.  And  so  with  that 
penalty    a    new    power    entered    into    life,    by    which 


146  THE    CREATION. 

man  might  recover  that  which  he  had  lost.  Mere 
innocence  at  the  best  is  but  a  passive  state,  with- 
out merit  or  reward  ;  but  when  refined  by  trial 
and  experience  it  assumes  the  character  of  virtue, 
it  is  a  positive  force  in  life.  And  while  innocence 
is  the  essential  quality  of  the  primal  Eden — heroic 
virtue  is  the  essential  feature  in  the  paradise  that 
is  to  be. 

The  first,  we  repeat,  is  an  inheritance  ;  the  other 
must  be  earned.  Men  inherit  wealth,  and,  as  often 
quite  as  otherwise,  they  squander  it ;  but  that 
which  they  have  gained  by  slow  degrees  and  per- 
sistent industry,  has  a  value,  and  serves  a  purpose 
it  could  never  do  without. 

So  Eden  was  given  to  man  :  he  fell.  Another 
lies  before  and  beckons  him  in  all  the 
Conclusion,  better  moments  of  his  life.  And  in  the 
Providence  that  is  over  him,  sin  will  lose 
its  charm  when  his  eyes  are  fully  open,  and  sorrow 
will  have  done  its  work  in  chastening  the  desires. 
And  as  out  of  conflict  cometh  victory,  and  out  of 
struggle  a  more  perfect  life,  so  by  slow  degrees 
and  sometimes  painful  steps — God  calling  him  upon 
the  one  hand  and  duty  urging  him  upon  the  other 
— by  every  onward  movement  and  every  upward 
impulse,  he  shall  come  again  to  Eden  by  and  by, 
and  the  last  estate  of  man  will  be  better  than  the 
first. 


VIII. 


Civilization-Cain  and 
Abel. 


"  Abel  was  a  keeper  of  sheep,  but  Cain  was  a  tiller  of  the 
ground.  .  .  .  And  it  came  to  pass  when  they  were  in  the  field, 
that  Cain  rose  up  against  Abel  his  brother  and  slew  him." 

"  The  first  step  in  civilization  was  achieved  by  conflict,  and 
every  succeeding  step  of  deep  and  lasting  import  has  been 
achieved  in  the  same  way.  It  is  the  method  of  history." — 
F.  H.  Hedge. 

"  Effort  is  the  condition  of  achievement  and  conflict  the 
price   of  victor}." 


VIII. 
PROBLEM  OF  CIVILIZATION. 

Society  has  its  beginnings  in  a  state  of  bar- 
barism, and,  if  we  may  trust  history,  tends  from 
time  to  time  to  relapse  into  its  primitive  condi- 
tion. By  barbarism  we  do  not  mean  savage  life, 
but  a  condition  intermediate  between  the  savage 
and  the  civilized  state — a  condition  in  which  men 
have  all  the  instinct,  intelligence,  and  propensities 
of  men  without  education  or  systematic  training  in 
any    of  them. 

Place    a    child,    if  it    were    possible,    away    from 
all  associates,  give  him   shelter,  food,   and        ^^^^^ 
drink,   without  care   or    effort  on    his    own     grades  of 

society. 

part,  and  never  excite  the  evil  propen- 
sities that  slumber  in  him,  and  he  will  grow  up  a 
respectable  barbarian,  having  little  disposition  for 
either  good  or  evil.  Take  another  and  surround 
him  from  the  first,  with  circumstances  that  tend 
constantly  to  rouse  the  passions  and  baser  pro- 
pensities, and  he  will  grow  up  a  savage,  like  our 
Indian.     Then  take  a   third   and   surround  him   with 


ISO  THE   CREATIOiV. 

the  appliances  of  cultured  life  ;  give  him  books  and 
schools  and  intelligent  companionship,  and  he  will 
become  civilized.  These  represent  three  distinct 
conditions  of  human  life,  and  we  readily  see  out  of 
what  surroundings  and  under  what  influences  they 
severally   grow. 

In   saying  that  society  begins  in   a  state  of  bar- 
barism,  we    mean     simply   that    humanity 

Primitive  ^ .  ,  _    . ,  .      . 

barbarism,  comes  upon  the  stage  of  life  m  a  state 
of  nature,  without  training  or  instruction, 
and  that  it  may  so  continue,  with  little  knowledge 
beyond  that  necessary  for  supplying  the  most  im- 
perative wants.  But  the  very  simplest  life  finds 
means  of  drill  and  tuition  in  its  course ;  means  that 
cannot  escape  it,  and  that  it  cannot  fail  in  some 
degree  to  heed. 

Man,  set  down  in  the  world  without  any  knowl- 
edcre  of  his  surroundincrs,  and  without  the 

Learnmg  ^  ^ 

by  assistance    of  a   teacher,    would     soon    be- 

experience.  .  ^    i  .     -      , 

come  conscious  oi  hunger  and  nnd  means 
to  satisfy  the  desire ;  and  if  the  climate  were 
severe,  would  not  be  long  in  providing  some  pro- 
tection against  the  inclemencies  of  the  weather. 
Then,  as  appetite  would  keep  him  on  the  alert,  he 
would  begin  to  exercise  his  ingenuity;  would  decoy 
animals  and  trap  them,  and  anon  would  fashion 
weapons  for  slaying  them.  All  these  come  in  the 
course    of    nature,     and    require    no    other    motives 


PROBLEM   OF   CIVILIZATION:  15I 

than  those  which  nature  herself  supplies.  Then, 
following  on  in  the  same  direction,  by  an  easy  and 
natural  process,  without  developing  much  of  either 
good  or  evil  quality,  he  might  come  at  length  to 
keep  flocks  and  herds  that  he  would  drive  from 
place  to  place,  as  pastures  failed,  and  still  be  noth- 
ing but  a  barbarian  ;  having  developed  neither  the 
vicious  qualities  that  make  the  savage,  nor  the 
higher  traits  that  lead  to  the  civilized  condition. 

While,  therefore,  we  do  grave  injustice  to  hu- 
manity to  suppose  it  came  up  primarily  from  a 
savage  state,  we  do  but  follow  out  the  plain  sug- 
gestions of  nature  and  reason  alike,  when  we  as- 
sume that  the  early  condition  of  human  society 
was    that   of  barbarism. 

This  was  clearly  the  condition  of  the  tribes  and 
men    of   which    we    read    in    the    remotest  „   ,     . 

Barbarism  of 

histories,  or  in  the  history  of  the  earliest  primeval 
times.  Their  chief  dependence  was  on 
their  flocks,  and  they  pitched  their  tents  from  time 
to  time  where  the  pastures  were  the  best.  So 
long  as  men  confine  themselves  closely  to  this 
kind  of  life,  moving  quietly  and  subsisting  on  the 
spontaneous  productions  of  the  earth,  together  with 
what  their  flocks  may  yield,  they  will  not  develop 
rapidly  either  the  baser  or  the  better  qualities ; 
their  growth  or  change  will  not  be  marked  either 
way.       But     if   they    come    to    subsist    by    plunder. 


152  THE   CREATION. 

added  to  the  chase,  they  rapidly  degenerate  in  a 
moral  sense,  and  are  so  much  farther  removed 
from   civilization. 

And    risfht    here,    we    incline    to    believe,    is    one 

secret  of   our    ill    success    in   civilizing   the 

n  lan    j   ^^-  ^ye  forget   the   step  that   lies  be- 

question.  fc>  ^ 

tween  the  state  in  which  we  find  him 
and  that  to  which  we  would  introduce  him.  The 
Indian  is  a  savage  and  not  a  mere  barbarian.  If 
you  would  civilize  the  Indian  and  not  exterminate 
him,  do  not  think  to  call  him  from  the  wigwam 
and  the  chase  to  the  sickle  and  the  plough.  The 
transition  is  too  abrupt,  and  the  change  too  abso- 
lute. But  assign  him  a  tract  of  country  sufficient 
for  flocks  to  roam  over  and  gather  their  living 
from  the  native  products  of  the  soil,  and  the 
change  from  his  former  state  will  not  be  so  great 
but  that  he  will  inure  to  it,  and  then  it  will  be 
practicable   to   take   the   other  step. 

But  to  resume  our  subject  of  discourse.  If  we 
had  no  written  testimony  on  the  subject  we  should 
reasonably  conclude,  from  what  we  know  of  hu- 
man nature,  that  the  early  condition  of  society 
was  that  which  we  have  defined  as  barbarous ; 
about  equally  removed  from  civilization  on  the  one 
hand  and  from  savage  life  upon  the  other.  And 
now,  in  pursuing  this  subject,  we  encounter  what 
seems  a   paradox  or   contradiction. 


PROBLEM    OF   CIVILIZATION.  153 

Civilized  life  is  unquestionably  the  highest 
state ;  and    yet  the    very  first  step   out    of 

^  ■>  i"  The  paradox 

barbarism,   in   the  direction  of  civilization,  of 

leads  to  disputes  and  war.  That  is  to  ^^^'  i^ation. 
say,  the  change  from  one  condition  to  the  other 
involves  the  rights  of  property  in  land,  about  which 
men  and  nations  have  been  wont  to  quarrel,  cer- 
tainly ever  since  nations  had  any  recognized  exist- 
ence. 

And  here  we  shall  find  a  convenient  and  forci- 
ble illustration  in  the  Bible  story  of  Cain  and 
Abel.  ''  And  it  came  to  pass  that  when  they 
were  in  the  field,  Cain  rose  up  against  Abel  his 
brother  and   slew  him." 

Cain  and  Abel,  representatives  of  the  early  race, 
were    doubtless     keepers     of    flocks    and 

Cain  and  Abel 

herds,    as    most    primitive    people    were,      as  g-enerai 
and  as  many   in  remoter  sections   of  the         *^^^^' 
world    are    to-day.        They    represent    the    nomadic 
tribes,    having    no    permanent    abodes,   but    moving 
tents  instead. 

In  process  of  time,  however,  Cain  grew  weary  of 
this  kind  of  life  and  turned  his  attention  to  cul- 
tivated fields.  But  Abel,  not  sharing  this  disposi- 
tion, was  still  content  to  rove  about  and  live  by 
his  flocks.  So  much  we  may  gather  from  the  ac- 
count of  the  religious  offering  that  each  one  brought. 

Abel  may  be  accounted  what  we  should  now  call 


154  THE    CREATION. 

a  conservative;  thought  things  well  enough  as  they 
were,  and  was  possibly  annoyed  at  Cain's  sugges- 
tion or  desire  for  change.  Cain,  on  the  other  hand, 
was  a  radical  in  a  primitive  sort  of  way ;  thought 
he  could  improve  upon  existing  methods  and 
devise  a  better  way  of  life,  than  to  wander  always 
homeless,   in   search   of  fresh  pastures. 

And  here  comes  in  the  fact  so  paradoxical,  that 
that  which  tends  to  improvement,  in  its  first  in- 
ception  tends   oftentimes  to  violence. 

While  all  men  wander  at  their  will,  and  no 
one    interferes    to    obstruct    the    way,    be- 

Conditions  ^ 

of  cause    all    are    equal,  and    no    one  s    rights 

civilization.  ^^^  trampled  on,  there  is  no  cause  of 
quarrel  regarding  land  or  territory.  But  the  mo- 
ment one  sets  himself  to  establish  a  fixed  abode, 
which  he  must  do  to  have  cultivated  fields — not  a 
tent  that  he  will  move  next  week  or  even  the 
coming  year,  but  a  permanent  abiding  place — he 
must  have  a  little  territory  to  himself.  He  must 
become  a  landed  proprietor  ;  must  assume  the  right 
to  certain  lands  and  claim  them  as  his  own.  He 
builds  a  fence,  digs  a  ditch,  or  otherwise  marks  the 
boundary  of  his  premises,  and  demands  that  other 
people  shall   respect   his  right. 

Here  is  the  root  and  beginning  of  all  the  dis- 
puted titles  that  occupy  so  much  the  attention  of 
our  courts.     One   man  claims  a  certain  tract  of  land 


PROBLEM   OF   CIVILIZATION.  I  55 

and  others  dispute  his  right.  But  this  is  the  re- 
sult of  a  condition  that  is  inevitable,  if 
society  is  ever  to  advance  beyond  its  titiesTri^d 
primitive  level.  There  can  be  no  real 
civilization,  nothing  above  barbarism,  without  es- 
tablished homes;  and  there  can  be  no  fixed  abodes, 
or  highly  cultivated  fields,  without  lines  or  boun- 
daries beyond  which  the  public  has  no  right  to 
trespass. 

Here,  then,   we  have  the  cause  of  the  first  quar- 
rel   recorded    in   human    history.        And  it 
has  more  than  a  personal  significance.     It      Cause  of 

quarrel. 

illustrates  a  principle  that  is  far-reaching 
and  comprehensive,  and  is  applicable  to  every  age 
and  every  people.  Abel  would  not  consent  to  the 
restriction  of  pasturage  implied  in  Cain's  claim  to 
certain  lands.  On  the  other  hand,  Cain  did  not 
want  Abel's  cattle  driven  across  his  fields.  They 
met  and  quarrelled,  and  in  the  strife  that  followed 
Abel  was  slain. 

The  world  has  long  been  in  the  habit  of  regard- 
ing   Cain    as    a    depraved    and    desperate 

Supposed  char- 
character,  and  Abel  as  quite  the  reverse;    acterofCain 

■I      ,       .  1  .  .  1  .,  1  and  Abel. 

but    there    is    no    evidence    either    way, 
except    in    the    result   of  this  encounter.      And    this 
result    was    only   what    has    been    repeated    so    often 
since,    and    what    is    repeated    still    before   our    eyes, 
that   the  cruder  types   of  society  and   life   give   way 


156  THE    CREATION. 

before  the  advance  of  higher  and  better  types, 
even  at  the  cost  of  violent  means.  Both  men  are 
represented  as  bringing  offerings  or  sacrifices,  one 
of  the  fruit  of  the  field,  the  other  of  the  firstlings 
of  his  flock,  that  is,  each  such  as  he  had  ;  which 
shows  the  one  a  shepherd  and  the  other  a  tiller  of 
the  soil.  And  so  far,  in  a  moral  sense,  there  is  no 
difference    between   them. 

But  whatever    the    merits    or    demerits    of  either 
man,    and   whatever    the   tendency    of  the 

murderer       change     in     men's     pursuits,     from     the     bar- 
condemned.    ,  ^  .      .         .....     ^    .      . 

barous  toward  the  civilized,  Cam  is  repre- 
sented as  condemned  to  a  career  of  bitterness  and 
fear — of  public    execration   and   self-reproach. 

And  does  not  history  continually  repeat  itself 
in  this?  The  slaying  of  a  fellow-being,  save  in  the 
extremest  case,  marks  a  man  in  society  forever. 
The  law  proscribes  him  and  pursues  him,  and  even 
though  he  escape  judicial  sentence,  we  think  of 
him  as  a  murderer  still.  The  hand  of  every  man 
is  against  him,  and  he  wanders  for  a  time  at  least, 
a  fugitive  and  vagabond  in  the  earth.  It  was  so 
then  ;  it  is  so  now,  and  will  be  so  as  long  as  men 
prize  life  above  everything  they  possess  besides. 

These  Old  Testament  stories  are  wonderfully 
life-like  and  real,  if  read  with  some  exercise  of  rea- 
son. 

Cain  went  to  another  country  to  live.     It  is  not 


PROBLEM   OF   CIVILIZATION.  157 

reasonable  to  suppose,  after  what  had  happened, 
that  he  could  have  lived  among  the  ^^^^ 
friends  and  followers  of  Abel — if  he  had  migration  of 
followers.  And  therefore,  of  necessity,  he 
withdrew  to  another  land,  and  thus  effected  the 
separation  of  the  human  family  into  two  classes,  in 
respect  to  their  employments.  This  change  was 
indeed  a  necessity  if  Cain  was  to  persevere  in  the 
chancred  mode  of  life  he  had  chosen.  If  he  was 
not  to  go  back  to  the  barbarian  level,  he  must 
have  a  section  of  country  to  himself.  It  was  as 
much  a  necessity  to  the  one  class  as  to  the  other. 
Those  who  adopted  agriculture  could  not  prosper 
in  a  country  given  up  to  pasturage ;  and  those  who 
roved  about  with  flocks  and  dwelt  in  tents  could 
not  live  in  a  thickly  populated  community,  where 
the  best  lands  were  occupied  and  tilled,  any  more 
than  the  Mexican  vaquero  could  keep  his  numer- 
ous herds  in  Connecticut  to-day.  The  one  kind  of 
society  and  life  inevitably  pushes  the  other  out, 
and  they  must  dwell  apart. 

The    event,    therefore,    of    the    first    murder    de- 
rives   an    additional    significance    from    the 
fact    that  it  represents  to  us  "  not   merely     .j^^g^^^ 
a    contest    between    two    angry    men,    but 
between   two   types   or    degrees    of  civilization." 

And    now,    leaving    these    typical    characters    for 
the    time,    let  us    inquire    into    some    of    the  effects 


158  THE   CREATION. 

Upon  the  human  race,  of  this  tendency  to  outgrow 
or  rise  above  the  habits  and  modes  of  the  bar- 
barian. 

Although  the  idea  generally  prevails  that   noma- 
dic   life    is  favorable    to  physical    strensrth 

The  better  ^      ^  ^ 

qualities  and  valiancy  in  battle,  all  history  and  ob- 
servation go  to  show  the  contrary.  It  is 
the  more  educated  and  the  better  disciplined  that 
win  the  day,  in  any  but  the  most  unequal  con- 
tests. That  degree  of  civilization  which  best  ad- 
vances the  interests  and  attainments  of  men,  at  the 
same  time  best  defends  them  against  the  assaults 
and   devices    of  all  inferior    grades. 

In  the  middle  ages,  in  Europe,  when  people 
were  divided  into  tribes  and  feudal  clans,  their  lead- 
ers, by  the  ill-requited  labor  of  the  masses,  built  ^ 
great  castles  ox\  such  points  as  were  easily  defen- 
sible ;  and  then,  whatever  depredations  they  might 
commit  on  the  community  without,  they  were  al- 
ways safe  in  these  strong  and  inaccessible  retreats ; 
because  an  army,  however  numerous,  could  make 
no  head  against  the  massive  walls  with  such  weap- 
ons as  were  in  existence. 

But  a  German  chemist,  quietly  experimenting  in 

his  laboratory,  invented  an  explosive  sub- 
Gunpowder  "^ 

and         Stance    since    known    as    gunpow^der ;    and 
straightway  these  robber    strongholds    be- 
came  untenable.     They    could    withstand   an   attack 


PROBLEM   OF   CIVILIZATION.  I  59 

with  slings  and  arrows  and  an  occasional  catapult, 
but  not  a  cannonade.  And  to-day  all  over  central 
and  southern  Europe  are  the  wrecks  of  these  old 
castles,  telling  their  pregnant  story  of  a  condition 
of  society  that  was  but  is  no  more.  Gunpowder 
often  serves  an  evil  purpose,  but  it  was  a  contri- 
bution of  science  at  the  first,  which  rendered  a 
most  important  service  to  society,  because  it  de- 
livered the  multitude  from  the  control  and  depre- 
dations of  a  class  of  men  who  lived  by  plunder, 
and  regarded  no  man's  rights  save  their  own. 
Here  the  contest  was  between  intelligent  invention 
and  brute  force ;  between  the  castle  builder  and 
the  powder  maker.  And  though  the  former  may 
at  first  be  the  stronger,  the  latter  in  the  end  will 
win. 

Again,  this  conflict  is  sometimes  between  mere 
mental  activity  and  moral  force.  And  here  under 
ordinary  circumstances  the  latter  bears  the  palm  ; 
for  while  a  mere  adventurer  may  have  dash — may 
be  reckless  and  even  desperate,  it  is  only  the  man 
of  moral  courage  who  is  really  brave.  This  has  a 
good  illustration,  as  we  think,  in  the  contest  of  the 
Roundheads  and  Cavaliers  of  England  in  the  time 
of  Charles  I. ;  for  the  question  was  substantially, 
whether  the  people  had  any  rights  that  the  king 
was  in  duty  bound  to  consider.  The  royal  troops 
were  better  fed,  better    armed,  and    better   mounted 


l6o  THE    CREATION. 

than  their  opponents,  but  it  was  Cromwell's  steady 
discipline,  and  the  moral  purpose  of  his  men,  that 
won  at  Naseby  and  Marston  Moor. 

So  we  might  go  through  history ;  but  we  only 
wish  to  indicate  on  this  point,  the  general  proposi- 
tion, that  the  higher  aim  and  purpose,  if  steadily 
pursued,  wins  against  the  meaner ;  and  before  any 
measure  that  tends  to  develop  and  subserve  the 
interest  of  the  human  race,  that  which  hinders  it 
must   fall. 

In  the  case  of  Cain  and  Abel,  the  one  who 
would  hold  men  to  a  nomadic  life,  in  which  no 
great  advancement  could  be  made,  fell  before  him 
who  had  devised  a  better  way.  Cain's  way  was 
better  because  in  its  course  lay  all  the  possible 
achievements  of  the  world — as  we  shall  see.  Fol- 
lowing out  his  ideal,  he  not  only  tilled  the  ground, 
but  he  built  a  city  also,  which  is  not  said  of  any 
man  before  his  time — and  this  witnessed  a  farther 
advance  of  human  progress  ;  for  it  is  in  the  city  or 
in  the  larger  community  that  civilization  attains  its 
best  estate. 

What  no  man  can  do  alone,  many  men  may  do 

together.     Hence  the  peculiar  associations 
Best  ==*  ^ 

condition  of    and    dependencies   of  city  life. 

life 

If  a  family  make  their  home  apart 
from  the  busy  world,  on  some  by-way,  or  in  some 
secluded  spot   remote  from    neighborship,  they  may 


PROBLEM  OF  CIVILIZATION.  l6l 

have  advantages  in  their  fixed  abode  they  could  not 
if  they  moved  about  hke  the  gypsies  from  day  to 
day,  but  cannot  have  the  best  opportunities.  As 
to  schools,  and  church,  and  society,  and  trade,  they 
live  at  a  disadvantage.  These  can  be  had  only 
when  people  dwell  in  near  communities,  and  where 
whatever  any  man  does  in  the  way  of  business  is  a 
matter  of  interest  to  his  neighbor  and  the  general 
public,  since  the  welfare  of  the  whole  is  in  some 
measure  dependent    upon   each. 

It  is  true,  that  a  state  of  comparative  isolation 
has  fewer  temptations  than  where  the  associations 
are  more  intimate.  It  is  true,  that  with  great  op- 
portunities for  good  come  great  inducements  to 
evil  ways.  But  the  office  of  opportunity,  and  the 
end  of  true  culture  in  a  man,  is  to  make  him 
strong.  We  should  deem  that  bodily  exercise  of 
little  practical  value  which  only  enlarged  the  ca- 
pacity of  the  stomach  without  increasing  the  physi- 
cal strength.  And  so  the  opportunities  which  a 
better  condition  of  life  brings  to  a  man  are  of  little 
profit,  unless  he  is  man  enough  to  make  them  in- 
strumentalities of  good. 

By   the    combination    of    means    and    the    union 
of  efforts    which    are    rendered    practicable 
in    the   city  or  in    the  largrer  communities,     ^^^^^^°"  ^^ 

labor. 

invention    and    progress    go    on     as    they 

could    not,    were    each    man    compelled    to    eke    his 


1 62  THE   CREATION. 

own  living  from  the  soil,  or  derive  it  from  the 
chase,  or  from  wandering  flocks,  in  the  condition 
of  nomadic  life.  Some  men  must  be  spared  this 
kind  of  labor,  that  their  thoughts  may  be  given  to 
other  things,  else  the  world  would  always  move  on 
the  primitive  plain  of  simple  uncultured  life,  and 
little   progress   could   be  made. 

Till  men  are  divided  up  into  trades  and  profes- 
sions, each  giving  his  time  and  thought  to  some 
particular  line  or  department  of  industry,  there  can 
be  no  great  advancement,  and  society  does  not  rise 
above  a  semi-barbarous  condition.  And  there  must 
be  somewhere  and  at  the  hands  of  some  one  a 
starting-point   for  all  improvements. 

Hence,  among  the  descendants  of  this  tiller  ot 
the  ground  and  first  builder  of  a  city,  we  find 
Tubal-Cain,  the  "  instructor  of  every  artificer  in 
brass  and  iron."  And  Tubal  the  "  father  of  such  as 
handle  the  harp  and  organ."  Here  is  the  beginning 
of  all  mechanic  arts,  and  the  root  of  all  improve- 
ments that  have  since  been  made ;  and  here  the 
beginning  of  instrumental  music,  whatever  form  or 
fashion  it  may  have  since  assumed.  For  whatever 
advances  have  yet  been  witnessed  in  the  various 
arts,  even  by  the  present  generation,  from  the  ruder 
implements  of  frontier  life,  to  the  most  finished  work 
of  the  completest  mechanism  or  the  highest  art, 
all  must  have  had  somewhere  a  beginning  ;  and  the 


PROBLEM    OF   CIVILIZATION.  1 6 


condition  of  society  at  the  time  of  that  beginning, 
must  have  been  such  as  to  foster  investigation  in 
some  degree,  and  promote   invention  and  discovery. 

This  condition  is  best  attained,  as  we  have  seen, 
in  a  large  community,  where  the  circumstances  per- 
mit or  demand  a  division  of  labor;  so  that  while 
one  works  with  his  hands,  another  works  with  his 
brain,  and  a  third  in  part  employs  them  both ; 
and  thus  the  whole  realm  of  nature  is  explored, 
her  secrets  are  found  out,  and  the  forces  she  holds 
in  trust  appropriated  to  the  progress  of  the  world. 
Everything  of  material  creation  is  laid  under  con- 
tribution to  this  one  great  end — the  advancement 
of  the  human  race.  And  under  the  impetus  given 
by  this  means  to  human  life,  it  assumes  a  new 
significance  and  stands  out  more  boldly  among  the 
works  of  God,  as  that  for  which  all  things  else 
were  made,  and  which  by  the  very  extent  of  its 
possibilities  gives  indication  of  other  than  earthly 
origin  and  destiny. 

But    this    view    of  life,  when   reduced   to    its  ele- 
ments, forces  us  back   upon  the  first   con-      Returns 
dition.       The    first    step    toward    this    ad-  upon  the  first 

condition, 

vanced  community  is  the  permanent  abid- 
ing-place   for    the    family;    but    the    family    and   the 
fixed    abode    necessitate    the    right    of  ownership    in 
the   soil,  and    the   moment   you    admit    the  right   of 
any  one  to  claim  one  acre  of  land  as  his  own,  that 


164  THE    CREATION. 

moment  you  limit  the  extent  of  territory  over 
which  any  one  may  wander  at  his  will.  And  that 
is  what   Cain  and   Abel  quarrelled   about. 

It  is  hardly  probable  that  either  of  these  men 
had  any  adequate  conception  of  the  tendency  and 
ultimate  result  of  what  he  did  or  attempted  to 
undo.  But  one  of  them  at  least,  had  an  ideal  of 
something  different  from  what  he  saw  and  what  he 
had   known  in   the  world. 

The  fact,  however,  that  has  fixed  the  attention, 
from    the    earliest     record    of   this    occur- 

Violence  a 

condition  of    rence     until    now,    is     that    violence    and 

advancement.      ,         ,  ,1  1        •       1 

death  came  thus  early  m  human  experi- 
ence from  the  antagonistic  ideas  and  tendencies  of 
men.  But  the  fact  appears  alike  in  nature  and  in 
human  life,  that  when  we  foster  the  good  we  give 
harbor  to  the  bad. 

The  labor  that  prepares  the  soil  for  the  wait- 
ing erain,  fits  it  as  well  for  the  readier  growth  of 
weeds.  The  same  stream  which,  properly  directed, 
obediently  turns  your  mill-wheel,  also  breaks  some- 
times beyond  its  banks  and  spoils  your  fields.  The 
vapor  that  lights  your  dwelling  so  conveniently  and 
so  brilliantly,  if  left  to  escape  unwittingly,  brings 
death  where  but  yesternight  it  brought  light  and 
gladness.  In  such  close  proximity  are  the  evil  and 
the  good.  It  depends  on  how  we  use  what  nature 
gives  us   or  what  our    industry  achieves,  whether    it 


PROBLEM   OF   CIVILIZATION.  1 65 

prove  a  blessing  or  a  curse.  It  depends  on  what 
use  we  make  of  life,  whether  its  possession  is  a 
penalty  or  privilege. 

Here  were  two  boys,  nourished  at  the  same 
breast,  going  out  into  the  world,  which  we  should 
think  was  wide  enough  for  both  ;  and  because  they 
had  different  views  and  aims  in  life,  the  bosom  ol 
the  virgin  earth  was   stained  with  fraternal  blood. 

A  fearful  fact  it  is  ;  but  it  illustrates  the  world's 
method  of  advance.  All  along  the  stream  of  time, 
from  then  till  now,  conflict  has  preceded  victory. 
No  great  achievement  is  ever  cheaply  won.  No 
great  advance  is  ever  made  except  at  some  great 
cost.  By  violence,  civilization  was  given  its  first 
great  impulse  in  the  world  ;  by  violence  most  of 
its  great  victories  have  been  w^on.  What  then  ? 
shall  we  accept  this  method  as  the  only  one,  and 
pursue  it  still  ?  Shall  we  go  about  to  kill  a  man 
when  we  would  improve  the  world  ? 

Let  us  keep  in  mind  the  double  or  conflicting 
tendencies  in  man.  He  starts  out  in  life  when  left 
alone,  a  barbarian.  He  begins  life  in  his  best 
estate  an  untutored  child,  with  possibilities  both  of 
evil  and  of  good  ;  and  on  the  training  and  associa- 
tions more  than  on  his  native  inclinations,  depend 
the  life  he  will  lead.  Ignorance  and  brutality  will 
fight  for  life.  They  will  resist  encroachments  even 
by  those   who   seek   their   good.      And    when    these 


1 66  THE    CREATION. 

have  made  great  advances,  it  is  rare  that  their  hold 
is  loosed  except  by  something  at  least  approaching 
violence.  But  in  the  child,  the  better  qualities 
yield  as  readily  to  the  influences  around,  as  the 
worse.  Now,  suppose  we  begin  the  education  of 
the  child  by  other  than  harsh  means  of  govern- 
ment. There  is  where  his  education  begins  as  per- 
tains to  human  rights. 

Then  think  how  important  a  part  violence  has 
always  played  in  the  education  of  the  world.  The 
rod  in  the  home  and  the  school.  Men  went  out 
into  the  world,  with  the  idea  of  the  necessity  of 
compulsion,  wherever  one  mind  or  power  was  supe- 
rior to  another.  The  thought  was  not  to  reason 
and  persuade,  but  to  subjugate. 

We  have  passed,  let  us  hope,  the  earlier  stage 
of  civilization  and  are  already  trying  dif- 
Possibiiity  of  ferent  means  to  accomplish  the  great 
purposes  of  life.  Violence  is  in  good 
measure  put  away  from  the  home.  It  is  being 
banished  by  degrees  from  the  public  schools.  It 
has  been  successfully  attempted  but  recently  in  the 
settlement  of  a  national  dispute.  The  question, 
therefore,  as  to  whether  the  method  of  improve- 
ment and  reform  can  be  permanently  changed,  is 
simply  a  question  as  to  whether  a  nation  can  be 
subjected   to  the  same  rules  as  an  individual. 

If    evil    maintains    still    the    master    hand,     then 


PROBLEM   OF  CIVILIZATION.  1 67 

there  is  no  advancement  except  by  violent  means, 
for  evil  is  stubborn  and  will  resist.  But  if  the  bet- 
ter nature  shall  gain  control,  if  the  ideal  becomes 
the  real  Christian  life,  then  by  easier  grades  and 
surer  steps  progress  will  hold  its  course.  Reason 
will  take  passion's  place,  and  advancement  in  the 
civilization  of  the  world  will  be  secured  without 
the  effusion  of  a  brother's  blood. 

Here  our  discussion  properly  ends. 

But  since  a  principle  once  established  finds  con- 
tinual   illustration    in    history    and    in    our 
observation    of    the    world,    so    there    are      "  si  lary 

'  questions. 

two    or     three     reflections     that    come     in 
place   at   this    point. 

The  first  relates  to  a  great  advance  that  has 
recently  been  made  in  the  direction  of  civilization  ; 
and  the  other  to  a  certain  tendency  toward  a  re- 
trograde   movement. 

I.  One  of  the  greatest  steps  ever  taken  toward 
a  Christian  civilization  was   in   the   settle- 

Settlement 

ment  of  the  "Alabama  Claims,"  in  1873,  of  "Alabama 
when  two  of  the  leading  nations  of  the 
earth  —  both  numerous  and  powerful  —  having  an 
occasion  of  war  between  them,  came  together  by 
their  representatives,  with  a  third  party  having  no 
practical  interest  at  stake,  and  with  his  aid,  ad- 
justed and  settled  their  cause  of  quarrel  without 
resort  to  any  violent  means. 


1 68  THE   CREATION. 

2.  The    other  case   relates    to   what   is   known   as 
the    Communal  principle — the   theory  that 

Communism 

aretrogres-  ownership  of  property  should  be  common, 
^^^^'  or  the  title  vested  in  the  state.  This  is 
variously  represented  by  the  Socialists  of  Germany, 
the  Nihilists  of  Russia,  the  Communists  of  France, 
and  a  nondescript  class  of  reformers  in  our  own 
country. 

Whatever  merits  may  be  alleged  of  the  sys- 
tem as  a  whole,  it  is  very  certain  that  the  general 
adoption  of  the  communal  principle  would  be  a 
return  tozvard  primitive  barbarism.  Not  a  return 
to  it,  but  a  step  in  that  direction.  For  communism 
pure  and  simple  was  the  original  condition. 

The  time  was  when  there  was  no  such  thing 
as  personal  ownership  of  land.  And  territory  was 
probably  claimed  by  tribes,  or  by  individual  leaders 
for  tribes,  before  ownership  of  the  soil  was  recog- 
nized as  an  individual  right.  This  primitive  state 
of  things  is  still  retained  in  a  measure  in  some 
European   countries. 

In   parts  of  Russia,  according  to  a  recent   French 

Communal    Writer  on    "  Primitive    Property,"    the  vil- 

property   m    j^        ^^    commune    owns    the    land.      To 

Russia     and         ^ 

Switzerland,  each  adult  is  allotted  a  portion  on  which 
he  may  work  and  get  his  living,  paying  a  certain 
percentage  into  the  public  treasury,  though  he  can 
never    possess    the    land    in  fee  simple.     He  cannot 


PROBLEM   OF   CIVILIZATION.  1 69 

sell    it,  and    there  may  be  from  time    to  time  a  re- 
division. 

In  certain  cantons  of  Switzerland,  the  commune 
possesses  the  land,  and  is  responsible  for  roads, 
schools,  and  police.  Each  head  of  a  family  is  en- 
titled to  garden-ground  enough  for  vegetables,  fruit, 
and  flax  or- -hemp  for  household  use.  He  is  also 
entitled  to  the  pasturage  of  two  cows  in  the  moun- 
tain meadows,  and  wood  from  the  common  forest. 
And  for  these  privileges  he  pays  a  definite  sum 
into  the  public  treasury.  And  while  to  many  peo- 
ple this  seems  at  a  distance,  quite  an  Arcadia,  the 
effect  may  be  seen  in  the  small  accumulations  of 
wealth  in  those  cantons  and  the  almost  entire  lack 
of  individual  enterprise. 

The  truth  is,  the  moment  we  take  from  the  in- 
dividual the  right  of  ownership  in  the 
Conclusion,  soil,  that  moment  we  take  from  him  the 
chief  incentive  to  productive  industry. 
And  taking  from  him  the  personal  advantage  of 
his  own  skilled  labor,  is  taking  away  the  incentive 
to  do  the  best  work. 

The  idea  of  a  state  of  society  in  which  all  men 
shall  be  equal  in  point  of  ownership,  whether  a 
man  is  industrious  or  indolent  —  whether  he  is 
skilled  or  unskilled,  is  purely  visionary  and  prac- 
ticably impossible.  There  may  be  grave  inequali- 
ties   and    serious    faults    in    society    as    it    exists    at 


I/O  THE    CREATION. 

present.  Merit  may  not  always  be  adequately  re- 
warded, and  impracticable  genius  may  often  find 
itself  distanced  by  persistent  mediocrity;  but  the 
disorder  is  not  to  be  remedied  by  a  defiance  of 
the  very  first  principles  of  justice  or  a  disregard  of 
the  rules  that  govern  all  intelligent  competition. 
And  the  best  state  of  society  to  which  we  can 
hope  to  attain  is  that  in  which  every  man  may 
profit  by  his  own  industry,  his  own  intelligence, 
and  his  own  enterprise  as  well. 


IX. 


Failure  of  Primeval 
Society. 


"  The  wickedness  of  man  was  great  .  .  .  And  the  earth  was 
filled  with  violence." 

"  Knowest  thou  not  all  germs  of  evil 
In  thy  heart  await  their  tim.e  ? 
Not  thyself,  but  God's  restraining, 
Stays  their  growth  of  crime." 

— Whittier. 

"  One  mischief  entered,  brings  another  in  ; 
The  second  pulls  a  third,  the  third  draws  more, 
And  they  for  all  the  rest  set  ope  the  door  ; 
Till  custom  takes  away  the  judging  sense 
And  to  offend  scarce  seems  an  offence." 


IX. 

FAILURE    OF    PRIMEVAL   SOCIETY. 

The    first    experiment    of   human    society  ended 
in    disaster.     Such    is     the    written    testi- 
mony—  such    the    not   unreasonable    infer-       ^""^^° 

nature. 

ence  to  be  drawn  from  what  we  know  of 
human  nature,  when  left  comparatively  to  its  own 
suggestion  and  direction.  Education  is  a  plodding 
process.  Human  wisdom  is  a  thing  of  slow  growth, 
and  in  the  most  favorable  conditions  has  but  a 
partial    following. 

The  boy  left  to  choose  his  own  companions 
and  follow  his  own  inclinations  goes  to  ruin.  The 
patient  watchfulness  of  parents  and  faithfulness  of 
teachers  do  not  always  suffice  to  secure  a  differ- 
ent  result. 

The  infancy  of  the  race  was  much  the  same  in 
many  points  as  that  of  the  individual,  and  must  be 
accordingly  considered. 

Left  first  to  unguided  inclination,  it  showed  a 
facility  in  evil  growth  not  manifested  in  its  ten- 
dency   toward    better    things.       The    sava^^e    outran 


1/4  THE    CREATION. 

the    saintly   qualities   in   the   earliest   development  of 

the    race ;    in  the    first    changes    from    the 

^°^\   °      barbarian    level    upon  which,    as   shown   in 

a    preceding    lecture,    society    began.     Nor 

was   this  fact  an   abnormal    one   in  human   life.     All 

along  the  line  of   history    it  appears    that    the    evil 

in    man,   if    not    most    potent,  has    shown   itself    of 

quickest  growth. 

How  many  of  the  discoveries  and  inventions  of 
men  were  made  to  serve  some  evil  purpose  before 
they  were  turned  to  good  account.  The  discovery 
of  iron,  with  the  method  of  reducing  it,  opens  per- 
haps the  widest  field  of  useful  industry  in  the 
whole  history  of  the  world.  Strike  that  from  the 
sum  of  human  achievement,  and  nine  tenths  of  all 
our  machinery  and  useful  implements  goes  with 
it.  And  yet  the  sword  was  shapen  before  the 
ploughshare,  and  men  learned  more  deadly  ways 
of  fighting  before  they  learned  better  methods  of 
cultivating  the  soil,  or  of  appropriating  human  skill 
and  labor.  And  even  to  this  day  it  depends  en- 
tirely upon  the  use  we  make  of  any  new  discovery, 
whether  it    prove  a    blessing    or   a    curse. 

These  reflections  are  in  some  sense  preparatory 
to  what  we  shall  have  to  say  in  this  discourse, 
of  the  flood,  by  which  primitive  society  came  to 
its  disastrous  end.  To  make  our  way  clear  we 
must    consider   the  condition    to    which    society    had 


FAILURE    OF  PRIMEVAL    SOCIETY.  1/5 

actually    come,    at    the    time    of  this    extraordinary 
event. 

Bgth  poetry    and    tradition    are    given    to    repre- 
senting  the  early   existence    of  man    as    a     ^^^^^^^^ 
golden     age    of   purity  and    innocence — of         of 

1  T-'  ^  r   -r^j  history. 

prosperity  and  peace.  1  ne  story  ot  bden, 
as  interpreted  in  the  lecture  on  man,  showed  him 
as  having  a  golden  day  of  innocence  to  begin 
with,  but  falling  early  into  disobedience  and  rap- 
idly into  strife.  And,  alas,  for  poetry  and  imagina- 
tion— for  tradition  and  romance,  the  earliest  traces 
we  find  in  fossil,  of  man  upon  the  earth,  are  as- 
sociated with  implements  of  war;  as  if  one  of  the 
first  things  men  learned  to  do  was  to  fall  into 
deadly  quarrels,    and    then    fight    them   out. 

But  this  need  not   surprise  us  when  we  are  told 
that  the  second    man,  whose    name  comes        ^^^^^ 
down  to    us,  was  a  fratricide.       The   story    condition  of 
that    the    fossils    tell    us   give    an    air    of 
plausibility   as  well  as  probability  to  this  account. 

And  we  might  readily  conceive  without  any 
definite  record,  to  what  condition  early  society 
would  be  likely  to  come,  with  such  a  beginning  as 
Adam  made,  and  such  a  following  as  Cain ;  and  if 
we  choose  to  trace  the  matter  farther,  we  shall 
find  an  indication  in  the  wild  song  of  vengeance 
and  defiance  that  Lamech  addressed  to  his  wives. 

We    are    not    entirely    unprepared,    after   this    re- 


1 7^  THE    CREATION. 

view,  for  the  statement  that  "  the  wickedness  of 
man  was  great,  and  the  earth  was  filled  with  vio- 
lence." Humanity  seems  to  have  started  on  a 
downward   grade. 

But  is  human  nature,  then,  constitutionally  de- 
praved to  such  extent  that  the  evil  in- 
depravity.  ^vitably  Overbalances  the  good  ?  No  ; 
but  the  evil  is  of  far  the  quicker  growth. 
Plant  a  garden,  and  leave  it  to  itself,  or  without 
careful  husbandry,  and  the  v/eeds  will  choke  out  all 
the  better  plants.  Recalling  an  illustration  used 
before,  the  boy  left  to  himself  develops  a  readier 
affinity  for  evil  than  for  good.  A  man  may  sink 
to  the  level  of  the  savage  more  easily  than  he  can 
rise  to  that  of  the  philosopher  or  the  saint.  A 
youth  may  make  his  way  to  profligacy  in  far  less 
time  than  he  can  fit  himself  for  important  and  use- 
ful service  in  the  world.  And  the  same  reasoning, 
we  repeat,  will  apply  with  equal  force  to  men  in 
the  combinations  of  social  life.  Society  but  ex- 
presses the  sum  of  the  influence  and  tendencies  of 
the  individuals  composing  it. 

On  this  point  we  quote  the  substance  of  a 
striking  paragraph  from  Dr.  Hedge.  The  first 
society,  committed  to  undisciplined  instincts  and 
native  passion,  without  education,  without  experi- 
ence, without  ideals  or  examples  before  them,  and 
with  no  authority  but  brute  force,  would  almost  in 


FAILURE    OF  PRIMEVAL    SOCIETY.  IJJ 

evitably  fail  for  lack  of  moral  resources ;  for  moral 
ideas,  and  therefore  moral  safeguards  and  defences, 
are  of  slower  growth. 

Consider  the   situation    of  that   primeval   society. 
We    may    easily    conceive,   from   what    we 
know    of   human    nature,    how    soon   some       ""^^J^^ 

society. 

sort  of  ambition  or  selfish  desire  would 
spring  up  among  men.  Ambition  would  breed  jeal- 
ousy ;  jealousy  revenge  ;  revenge  violence  and  war. 
And  this  course  of  development  of  human  passion 
would  be  inevitable,  till  men  had  learned  to  think 
soberly,  to  reason  rightly,  and  to  trace  with  some 
sort  of  logical  sequence,  their  acts  to  their  causes 
on  the  one  hand,  and  to  their  consequences  on  the 
other.  It  seems  hardly  strange  at  all,  therefore, 
that  man  should  have  found  himself  literally 
swamped  in  the  slough  of  his  own  misguided  pas- 
sions, and  that  the  first  attempt  of  men  to  live  in 
some  sort  of  harmony,  and  with  some  community 
of  interests,   should   have   proved  a   signal  failure. 

An    eloquent    author   has    said :     "  Let    the   word 
'  ought  '   be    stricken    from    our   language, 
with    all    that    it    implies,    and    civilization     '^^^  ^^^"^ 

otight. 

would   be  dust  in   a  day."     And  one  chief 
advantage    that    society    has    now,   over    that    of  the 
olden    time,    is    that    man    has    learned    to    say,     "  I 
ought,"    and   to   acknowledge   and   regard    his   neigh- 
bor's rights  equally   with  his  own. 


178  THE    CREATION. 

If  to-day,  all  our  laws  of  equity,  the  growth  of 
centuries,  could  be  stricken  out ;  all  the  memories 
of  good  exam.ples  and  heroic  sacrifices,  the  herit- 
age of  crenerations,  eradicated;  and  all  our  educa- 
tional,  moral,  religious,  and  refining  institutions 
razed  to  the  ground,  how  soon  would  men  forget 
their  obligations  and  discard  the  wisest  counsel, 
and   ambition,   lust,   and   rapine  reign   supreme. 

But  the  sense  of  justice  and  of  mutual  depend- 
ence and  responsibility  had  to  groiv,  and  approve 
themselves  in  man's  own  experience.  And  till  he 
had  had  experience,  both  of  the  evil  and  the  good 
that  are  possible  to  society,  he  could  not  certainly 
distinguish  between  them,  for  there  was  neither 
history  nor  example  to  guide  him  as  there  is  to 
guide  men   to-day. 

And  now,  since  evil  in  its  very  nature  is  not 
only    self-destructive    but    carries    destruc- 

Nature  of  1  -i     i       1 

evil.  tion  in  its  train,  and  as  evil  had  come 
to  prevail  in  the  society  of  that  early 
time,  in  agreement  with  what  seem  the  recorded 
facts  of  history,  we  have  characterized  the  first  at- 
tempt  at   human   society   as    a   failure. 

"  And  God  saw  that  the  wickedness  of  man 
was  great  in  the  earth,  and  that  every  imagination 
of  the  thoughts  of  his  heart  was  only  evil  continu- 
ally. .  .  And  God  said  I  will  destroy  man." 

We     shall     find    the     Hebrew    idea    of   God    and 


FAILURE    OF  PRIMEVAL    SOCIETY.  1 79 

the     method    of    his    government    woven     into    the 

narrative,    as    we    find    it    in    all    the    writ- 

inc^s  of  that   ancient  people.      The    theory  ^^^  Hebrew 

""  _  ^       ^  ^        theology. 

is  that  disaster,  calamity,  and  affliction ; 
that  everything  in  nature  or  experience  out  of  the 
normal  course  ;  that  earthquakes  and  epidemics, 
floods  and  fevers,  are  expressions  of  the  divine  dis- 
pleasure. We  have  learned  to  regard  these  things 
otherwise.  But  such  was  their  understanding  and 
interpretation.  And  in  the  wickedness  of  the  peo- 
ple, therefore,  which  was  very  great,  was  found 
sufficient  occasion  for  the  flood,  in  which  the  earth 
was  cleansed  of  its  corruption  and  violence  by  the 
destruction   of   the   life   upon    it. 

The   story   of  the  flood   is   briefly  this :    that   the 
fountains    of    the    deep    were     broken    up 
and  the  clouds  poured    out  their  rain,    till    ^j^^  Deiu<^e 
the    earth    was    covered     and    the     waters 
prevailed  above    the    mountain   tops,    destroying  the 
life    that    was    on    the    land,    except    Noah    and     his 
family,  with  the    animals   gathered    by   them  in    the 
ark,   built  for  their  preservation. 

The  ark,  as  appears,  was  not  a  boat  in  any 
proper  sense,  but  a  huge  box,  well  proportioned  for 
floating  safely  on  the  water,  but  unprovided,  so  far 
as  we  are  informed,  with  oar.  sail,  or  rudder;  left 
to  drift   whithersoever   it  might. 

According  to  the    record   it  was  about    five  hun- 


l8o  THE    CREATION. 

dred  feet  long ;  less  than  one  hundred  feet  wide, 
and  about  thirty  feet  high  ;  having  a  capacity  it  is 
computed,  about  equal  to  that  of  the  steamship 
Great  Eastern.  A  man  in  Holland  some  years  ago 
constructed  a  vessel  on  the  model  of  the  ark,  and 
found  it  well  adapted  to  sustain  a  very  great 
weight. 

Sundry  questions  inevitably  spring  up  at  men- 
tion of  the  ark,  such  as,  how  was  it  possible  for 
Noah  and  his  family  to  collect  specimens  of  all 
the  animals — one  pair  of  the  unclean  and  least 
useful,  and  seven  of  the  clean  and  more  serviceable 
ones?  And  whether  it  was  possible  for  the  ark 
to  contain  so  many  animals  with  food  sufficient 
for  such  a  time.  But  let  us  not  anticipate.  The 
problem    is    not    so    difficult  as   may  at  first  appear. 

Having  learned  the  story,  let  us  now,  according 
to  our  custom,  make  some  inquiries  in  other  di- 
rections. 

Is  there  any  evidence,  aside  from  the  written 
account,  that   there    ever   was  a  flood  ? 

Evidence 

of  Yes.     Evidence  that    neither    the    bold- 

est scepticism  can  gainsay  or  the  sharp- 
est criticism  undermine. 

The  testimony  is  of  various  kinds. 

I.  There  are  traditions  of  a  flood  among  many 
races  and  nations,  some  of  which  know  nothing  of 
our  Bible  or  perhaps  have  never  heard  of  it ;    tradi- 


FAILURE    OF  PRIMEVAL    SOCIETY.  151 

tions  dating  back  to  the  early  history  of  man. 
The  Chaldees,  the  Phoenicians,  the  Persians,  the 
Hindoos,  even  the  American  Indians,  but  espe- 
cially the  races  that  trace  their  origin  to  the  in- 
terior of  Asia,  have  such  traditions.  And  though 
their  accounts  vary  somewhat,  they  agree  in  the 
important  points,  that  the  flood  was  destructive  of 
human  life  in  general,  but  that  a  few,  accounted 
righteous  persons,  were  saved   in  some  sort  of  boat. 

And  though  tradition  is  but  perpetuated  rumor, 
and  not  to  be  depended  on  as  decisive  evidence 
in  the  absence  of  anything  beside,  it  is  hardly  pos- 
sible that  a  tradition  so  general  could  exist,  and 
especially  with  essential  points  so  far  corresponding, 
unless  there  was  some  good  foundation   for  it. 

2.  There  is  evidence  in  many  a  highland  dis- 
trict, on  many  a  mountain  side,  and  even  on 
mountain  tops,  that  at  no  distant  period  they 
were  under  the  sea ;  in  other  words,  that  "  the 
waters  prevailed   above  them." 

If  you  will  go  to  Montreal  and  climb  the 
mountain  back  of  that  city,  where  workmen  are 
^^iggi^ig  in  the  park,  you  may  find  there  the  shells 
of  such  animals  as  live  in  the  sea  to-day,  and 
that  at  an  elevation  of  four  hundred  feet  above 
the  present  level  of  the  St.  Lawrence  river.  There 
is  but  one  way  of  accounting  for  the  existence  of 
modern   marine   remains  at  such   a   height,   and   that 


1 82  THE    CREATION. 

is,  that  within  comparatively  modern  times,  all  that 
region  has  been  covered  by  the  sea  ;  the  waters 
prevailed   above. 

And  what  appears  so  plainly  in  that  locality 
can  be  traced  with  equal  certainty  in  various  re- 
gions of  the  earth.  There  is  no  possible  doubt  of 
the   fact. 

If,  then,  we  inquire  into  the  cause  of  the   flood, 
it    may    have    been    due   to    either   of  two 
floods        causes  ;    an    unusual    fall    of    rain,    or    the 
sinking  of  the  land  in  the  flooded  district, 
and    a    filling    in    of  waters    from    the    sea.      Either 
would    be     effectual     in     accomplishing    the     result. 
The    question   may    be  asked,  is   there  anything    an- 
alogous in  modern  times,  to   such  a  mode  of  cover- 
incr  the  land  with   the   sea? 

Yes,  though   on  a  comparatively   moderate   scale. 
About  sixty   years  ago   a  tract  of  land,   half  the 
size   of   Connecticut,  at  the  mouth   of   the 
exa^mp^ies.    ^^^^^    Indus,    Suddenly    sank    to    such    ex- 
tent,  the  sea  covered   part  of   it,   and   the 
other,   from   high,  dry  land,  was  reduced  to  swamp. 
Still    more    recently   a   portion    of    the    coast    of 
Chili    sank    several     feet,    so    that    the    waters    pre- 
vailed    where,     in    all    recorded     time     before,     had 
been  dry   land  ;  and   at   another  time,   a  sudden   up- 
heaval   of   a    portion   of  that    coast    made    dry    land 
of  a  tract  that  had   long    been   covered  by   the  sea. 


FAILURE    OF  PRIMEVAL    SOCIETY.  1 83 

And  sudden  changes  in  the  level  of  the  surface  of 
the  earth  are  almost  always  attended  by  long  and 
copious  rains.  The  clouds  and  the  sea  seem  to 
combine  to  work  destruction  upon  the  earth.  In 
the  expressive  language  of  the  sacred  word,  '*  The 
windows  of  heaven  are  opened  "  on  the  one  hand, 
"  and  the  fountains  of  the  great  deep  are  broken 
up"   upon   the   other. 

It  is  certain,  then,  that  floods  may  occur,  by  the 
operation  of  causes  that  are  well  understood.  They 
have   occurred,   and,    on   a  small   scale,   still   occur. 

Next  comes  the  very  important  question  ;  was 
the   Noachian   delup;e    universal?     No. 

^  The  deluge 

1.  There    is    not    water    enough    in    the  not 
earth,     the     air,    and    clouds    together     to 

cover  the  whole  surface  of  the  earth,  to  such  ex- 
tent  it   would  prevail   above   the   mountain  tops. 

2.  Such  a  flood,  in  such  a  length  of  time,  would 
have  destroyed  every  plant,  if  not  every  seed  upon 
the  earth  ;  and  there  is  no  record  of  any  attempt  to 
preserve  the  plants  from  the  flood  ;  and  all  plant 
life  must  have  begun  anew,  presumably  by  a  new 
creation,  when  the  deluge  had  subsided.  Moreover, 
the  flocks  that  were  preserved  during  the  preva- 
lence of  the  waters,  after  they  came  from  the  ark, 
must  have  perished  for  want  of  pastures,  while 
waiting  on  the  barren  hills  for  the  plants  to  grow 
asrain. 


I $4  THE   CREATION. 

Further,  all  fishes  and  other  animals  that  live 
in  fresh  water,  and  all  corals  and  other  animals 
that  grow  in  shallow  water,  must  inevitably  have 
perished,  for  the  water  was  both  salt  and  deep. 
And  no  mention  is  made  of  marine  animals  as 
among  those  for  whose  preservation  any  provision 
was  made. 

If  we  seem  to  be  taking  somewhat   bold  ground 

when    we    say   the    Noachian    deluge   was 

Criticisms,    not    universal,    we   have    only    to    answer 

in    reply,    that    we    know   of    no    scholarly 

critic,    whatever    his    religious   opinions    or    scientific 

training-,    who    believes    that    the    earth     has    been 

completely    covered    by    a   flood    at    any   time   since 

the    creation    of    man ;     or    that    the    time    has    ever 

been,    since    the     mountains    were    reared    and     the 

beds   of  the   sea  were   hollowed  out,  that  the  whole 

earth  was   under  water. 

How,  then,  are  we  to  interpret  the  emphatic 
lancruao;e   of  the  record,  that   "  the   waters 

Interpretation  ^       ^ 

of  prevailed     exceedingly    upon     the    earth, 

and  all  the  high  hills  under  the  whole 
heaven  were  covered  ?  "  We  are  to  follow  the 
same  rule  of  interpretation  precisely  as  in  other 
passages,  with  like  sweeping  or  general  phrases.  A 
few  examples  will  place  the  matter  in  a  clear  and 
definite  light.  It  is  said  at  the  time  of  famine 
that   sent  Jacob's    sons   to  Egypt,    that   "  the  whole 


i 


FAILURE    OF  PRIMEVAL   SOCIETY.  1 85 


world  came  to  Egypt  to  buy  corn."  Strictly  speak- 
ing, but  a  small  fraction  of  the  world  had  any 
knowledge  of  such  a  land  as  Egypt.  And  yet  the 
language  is  not  misleading.  It  is  said  of  David 
the  king  that  he  "  was  feared  by  every  nation 
under  heaven;"  when  probably  half  the  nations, 
at  the  very  least,  were  unconscious  of  the  exist- 
ence of  any   such  man   as   David. 

Luke  says  that  "  Caesar  gave  command  that  all 
the  world  should  be  taxed,"  meaning  of  course 
the  Roman  world  or  empire.  Paul  says  to  the 
Colossians  that  the  gospel  had  been  preached  "  to 
every  creature  under  heaven;"  while  as  yet  the 
disciples  were  few  and  the  preachers  but  a  meagre 
company.  It  seems  hardly  possible  for  the  intelli- 
gent reader  to  mistake  the  meaning  of  these  ex- 
pressions. They  imply  a  very  wide,  but  by  no 
means   universal   extent. 

Similar  expressions  are  in  daily  use  in  our  com- 
mon speech.  We  say  "the  whole  town"  was  at 
the  meeting,  meaning  only  that  the  meeting  was 
large  and  enlisted  general  interest.  We  say  ''  the 
whole  city  was  excited,"  when  much  the  larger 
portion  of  the  people  had  no  knowledge  of  the 
exciting  cause,  and  no  feeling  or  interest  in  it. 
And  yet  no  one  is  misled  or  deceived  by  such 
language.  It  expresses  a  general  fact,  but  is  by 
no   means  specific   as   to  numbers  or  extent. 


1 86  THE   CREATION. 

A  possible  interpretation  is  that  the  whole 
world  then  known  was  but  a  fraction  of  what  is 
known  to-day,  and  the  language  had  a  specific 
application  to  the  part  that  was  known.  But  we 
are  shut  up  to  no  such  exceptional  interpretation. 
The  meaning  is  clear  enough  if  we  but  consider 
the    common    use    of  terms. 

What,  then,  is  the  plain  and  reasonable  interpre- 
tation of  the  story  of  the  flood  ? 

It  is,  that  there  was  a  flood  of  unusual  ex- 
tent ;  that  it  was  destructive  both  to 
The  plain      ^^^  ^^^    bcasts  ;  that  a  few  persons  with 

meaning. 

certain  kinds  of  animals  in  the  flooded 
district  were  preserved ;  and  that,  in  accordance 
with  the  Hebrew  idea  of  the  divine  character  and 
government,  the  flood  being  a  great  disaster,  was 
attributed  to  the  divine  displeasure  at  the  wicked- 
ness of  men ;  and  that  the  rescued  ones  became 
the  types  of  purity,  since  on  the  same  theory,  the 
divine  favor  was  manifestly  upon  them. 

There  is  nothing,  therefore,  that  need  tax  our 
credulity,  much  less  defy  our  reason,  in  the  idea 
that  there  was  a  flood,  that  it  wrought  great  de- 
struction,   and    that   a   few   escaped    its   ravages. 

If  the    Noachian    deluge    was    not  uni- 

Location 

of  versal,    in    what    part  of  the  world    did    it 

the  flood.     Q^^^^.p     j^  jg    j^Qt  difficult  to   find    an    an- 
swer to  this  question.     Most  of  the  races  that  have 


FAILURE    OF  PRIMEVAL    SOCIETY.  1 87 

any  record  or  tradition  of  a  flood,  trace  their  ori- 
gin to  interior  or  Western  Asia.  It  is  regarded 
now  as  quite  certain  that  it  Avas  in  that  section  of 
the  world  that  man  originated,  and  that  the  race 
scattered  thence  to  the  different  quarters  of  the 
globe. 

It  is  every  way  reasonable,  therefore,  to  suppose 
that  here  is  where  the  flood  occurred.  Indeed, 
there  is  ample  evidence  that  that  region  has  suf- 
fered seriously  both  by  fire  and  flood,  by  earth- 
quake and  deluge,  since  it  was  first  occupied  by 
man. 

Moreover,  it  would  require  but  little  subsi- 
dence   of  the  land  to  repeat   that    disaster 

^  Possibility- 

to-day,     bringing    in     the     waters     of     the  of 

Caspian  Sea  upon  the  north,  and  the 
Indian  Ocean  upon  the  south  in  such  way  as  to 
flood  the  valleys  of  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris,  the 
Indus  and  the  Ganges,  with  all  their  feeding 
streams,  involving  a  wide  continental  area  in  de- 
struction. Not  only  is  this  region  exposed  to  the 
sea  both  on  the  north  and  on  the  south,  but 
some  portions  of  the  interior,  as  the  Dead  Sea, 
lie  far  below  the  sea  level  now,  and  are  only  pro- 
tected from  inundation  by  the  highland  rims  about 
the    borders. 

One  thought  incidental  is  suggested  as  we  pass. 
Whether  the   district  covered    by  the  flood  compre- 


1 88  THE    CREATION. 

hended  all  the  earth  that  was  then  inhabited,  we  dc 
not    know.     It   is    by    no    means    improba- 
of  ble   that   the    race  had    spread    beyond    its 

limits.  And  the  fact  that  the  Egyptians 
have  no  tradition  of  the  deluge,  suggests  the  pos- 
sibility that  Egypt  did  not  share  the  disaster  that 
came  upon  Western  Asia.  And  the  same  may  cer- 
tainly be  said  of  remoter  portions  of  the  world. 
This  would  make  the  rapid  peopling  of  the  world 
subsequently,  more  easily  accounted  for,  and  is,  all 
things  considered,  the  most  reasonable  solution  of 
that  problem. 

In  the  facts  of  human  history,  then,  we  find   the 

origin    of  the    story    of  the    flood.     In  re- 

^.  ^^°7     cordincr     an     affair     of    such     tremendous 

rational.  ^ 

moment,  it  could  hardly  be  otherwise 
than  that  the  account  should  come  to  be  in- 
vested somewhat  with  the  character  of  romance. 
For  in  this  as  in  many  other  sacred  stories,  the 
facts  recorded  are  of  less  importance  than  the  les- 
son taught  ;  a  deeper  meaning  is  implied  than  the 
words   immediately  express. 

That  men  should  have  grown  wicked  when  left 
without  wisdom,  example,  or  restraint  is  in  no 
sense  strange ;  and  that  they  should  have  brought 
destruction  on  themselves,  in  consequence  of  vice 
and  crime,  is  something  we  are  not  troubled  now 
to    understand.     Only  justice   and  truth,  equity   and 


FAILURE   OF  PRIMEVAL   SOCIETY.  1 89 

honor  can  guarantee  the  existence  of  society. 
Abolish  these  and  society  disintegrates  ;  no  man 
trusts  his  neighbor,  and  the  whole  social  fabric 
goes    to    rapid  ruin. 

But  the  tragedy  of  the  flood,  in  different  forms, 
has    been    re-enacted    many    times,    and    is 

The  tragedy 

passing  on  the  stage  again  to-day.  A  oft 
nation  perishes;  but  here  and  there  a  ''^P^^*^'^- 
devoted  teacher,  a  heroic  leader,  with  some  virtue 
to  commend  him  to  posterity,  stands  out  above  his 
nation  and  his  age.  While  the  nation  dies  he 
lives;  and  though  the  nation  ma^y  be  buried  in  the 
flood  of  subsequent  events,  he  is  accorded  a  place 
in  the  living  heart  of  a  grateful  world.  And  here 
we  find  the  moral  of  the  lesson  of  the  flood. 

If  the  time  shall  ever  come  when  this  nation 
perishes,  when  the  very  memory  thereof  shall  have 
almost  passed  away,  there  are  a  few  names,  per- 
haps not  half  so  many  as  in  Noah's  family,  shall 
live  ;  for  their  virtues,  their  courage,  their  fortitude 
and  faithfulness  forbid  that  they   be  forgot. 

We  stand  upon  the  ruins  of  the  Athenian 
Acropolis  to-day.  The  history  of  the  glo- 
rious times  that  were,  seem  now  but  the  Reflections, 
dissolving  fabric  of  a  dream.  But  the 
ghosts  of  such  as  Socrates  and  Plato  seem  still  to 
haunt  those  ancient  streets,  and  are  more  real  to 
us    than    anything    beside   in    the    whole    history   of 


190  THE    CREATION. 

Greece.  The  nation  was  buried  long  ago,  swept 
away  as  by  a  flood,  but  the  best  things  in  it  were 
preserved. 

And  finally,  if  we  go  to  Palestine  and  climb  the 
dreary  hills  about  Jerusalem,  traverse  the  desolate 
Judean  plains,  and  think  of  the  wonders  of  that 
ancient  world — of  the  wilderness  and  Sinai,  of  the 
temple  and  the  throne  —  there  is  one  figure  that 
towers  over  all  the  rest ;  one  life  that  rises  above, 
and  makes  even  poor  and  wretched  Bethlehem  and 
dilapidated  Nazareth  most  holy  ground  ;  for  there 
went  out  thence  a  more  potent  force,  to  shape  the 
lives  and  quicken  the  hearts  of  men,  than  the  world 
has  ever  known  beside. 


X, 


Diversity  of  Tongues 


"And  the  whole  earth  was  of  one  language  and  of  one 
speech." 

"The  formation  of  language  supposes  two  conditions:  i.  A 
consciousness  in  man  of  his  power  to  produce  articulate  sounds. 
2.  A  perception  of  the  possibility  of  those  sounds  becoming  the 
signs  of  his  ideas." — Locke's  Esiiy. 

"Th'  invention  all  admired,  and  each  how  he 
To  be  th'  inventor  missed  ;  so  easy  't  seemed 
Once  found,  which  yet  unfound,  most  would  have  thought 
Impossible." 

" — Paradise  Lost, 


X. 

DIVERSITY  OF  TONGUES. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  origin  of  human 
lancruao-e — whether    the  first    created   were       ^  .  . 

^       ^  Origin 

endowed    with    the    gift  of    speech,  or,    as  of 

1  •        4.U  language. 

seems  more  probable,  language  is  the 
slow  growth  of  centuries — there  must  have  been  a 
time  when  the  human  family  was  of  one  language 
and  one  speech.  We  know  no  argument  in  favor 
of  the  first  theory.  It  is  a  mere  assumption  based 
on  the  fact  that  man  is  gifted  above  other  animals 
and  that  he  has  need  of  speech.  The  other  theory, 
namely,  that  language  is  a  growth,  is  capable  in 
good   degree   of  demonstration. 

Place  a  group  of  animals  together,  and  they 
soon  come  to  understand  each  other  in  a  sort  of 
rude  yet  decisive  way.  Much  more,  two  human 
beings,  though  they  be  of  different  races  and  differ- 
ent tongues,  will  soon  communicate  their  sentiments 
and  ideas  to  each  other  by  articulate  sounds.* 

*  Peschel  states  that  young  children  of  some  South  African  tribes, 
left  much  to  themselves  during  the  long  absence  of  parents  in  collect- 
ing their  winter's  food,  develop  a  sort  of  language  of  their  own. 


194  THE    CREATIOy. 

The    process    is    a    very   simple    one.      If  we    go 

back    to    the    history    of   the    infant    race, 
Growth  -'  ' 

of  we    may    suppose     the    first     attempt    to 

anguage.  j^g^^^  been  nothing  more  than  a  vocal  im- 
pulse, having  no  intelligent  design  or  intelligible 
meaning,  but  growing  out  of  the  desire  for  expres- 
sion. Nevertheless,  when  found  to  answer  a  pur- 
pose, or  procure  some  satisfactory  response,  it 
would  be  repeated  and  so  grow  into  a  habit,  which 
would  widen  and  extend  till  it  comprehended  a 
variety  of  sounds,  each  of  which  would  have  some 
special  meaning.  The  same  process  would  go  on 
in  different  individuals  at  the  same  time.  Each 
would  learn  to  accept  or  imitate  the  other's  utter- 
ances, as  expressing  certain  ideas ;  and  each  con- 
tributing a  share  to  the  common  stock,  a  single  lan- 
guage would  grow  up  and  be  mutually  adopted.* 
Thus  a  community  of  people,  living  in  the  same 

_  place    and    in    like  conditions,  would   have 

One  ^ 

language     one    language    and     one    speech.      And    so 
long    as    they    continued    one    community, 
with   no  great  variety  of   interests  and  no  great    di- 
versity   of  aims,  they  would    continue    in  the  same 
habits    of   life,    thought,    and    speech.     We    see    this 

*  The  theory  that  language  is  a  human  invention  need  not  dis- 
turb the  equanimity  of  the  most  reverent  believer  in  the  Scriptures  ; 
for  it  is  distinctly  stated  (Genesis  ii.  19,  20)  that  man  gave  names 
to  the  animals.  They  had  no  names  till  he  invented  and  applied 
them 


DIVERSITY  OF    TONGUES,  1 95 

well  illustrated  in  the  unenterprising  lands  of  the 
Orient,  where  customs  of  life  and  habit,  and  fash- 
ions in  dress  even,  remain  almost  the  same  as 
they  were  thousands  of  years  ago,  though  the  in- 
flux and  mingling  of  foreign  elements  have  some- 
what corrupted  and  changed  their  speech.  So  long 
as  society  undergoes  no  great  changes,  so  long  the 
language  will  undergo  no  important  modifications. 
But  when  the  first  begins  to  change  the  other  will 
soon  follow,  and  from  causes  in  no  wise  difficult  to 
trace. 

So   long   as  a  community  is    small    and    devoted 
largely    to    a    common    pursuit,    so     long 
there     is     little     occasion     or    opportunity  of 

-  ,  _,  -   .  ,  .  diversity. 

for  change.  But  history  and  experience 
alike  go  to  prove,  that  as  a  community  enlarges, 
as  its  numbers  increase  and  its  business  interests 
multiply,  and  especially  as  men  of  courage  and 
ambition  strike  out  from  the  old  home,  emigrate 
and  lead  out  colonies  to  form  new  communities, 
as  Abraham  started  out  from  Ur  of  the  Chaldees, 
and  Lot  separated  from  his  kinsman  at  the  Jordan, 
different  habits  grow  up  and  differences  of  speech 
will  soon  appear. 

Althousfh   facilities  of  travel   and   com-  ...    ^     . 

^  Illustrations. 

munication  make  these  things   less  appar- 
ent now,   it  is  but   a  {qsm   years    since   this   fact    was 
well    illustrated    in    our    own    country.      We    are    an 


196  THE    CREATION. 

English-speaking  nation.  And  yet,  a  generation 
since,  a  person  bred  in  New  England  found  it  diffi- 
cult to  understand  a  Southerner,  on  first  acquaint- 
ance, and  they  of  the  West  were  quite  perplexed 
over  some  peculiarities  of  speech  of  newly  arrived 
New    England    neighbors. 

Not  only  does  remoteness  of  locality  and  infre- 
quency  of  communication  contribute  to  this  result, 
but  it  is  inevitable,  as  a  community  extends  and 
trades  and  occupations  increase  in  variety,  that  these 
differences  should  arise.  Locality,  kinds  of  business 
and  habits  of  life  must  all  be  taken  into  the  ac- 
count. And  these  differences  will  multiply  in 
number  and  widen  in  extent,  till  after  a  few  years, 
people  who  started  in  life  together  but  have  been 
separated,  will  sometimes  be  at  a  loss  to  under- 
stand each  other.  In  the  gold  mines  of  California 
a  dialect  grew  up  quite  incomprehensible  to  one 
who  had  no  knowledge  of  their  modes  of  life.  It  is 
related  that  when  Chatham,  on  one  occasion,  visited 
the  mines  of  Yorkshire,  he  was  surprised  to  find 
he  could  not  understand  at  all  the  coal  digger's 
speech ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  statesman's 
polished  rhetoric  was  but  idle  words  in  the  ears  of 
these  men  of  brawny  arm  but  narrow  opportunities. 

A  consideration  of  much  importance  in  this 
connection  is  that  language  in  remote  ages  was 
unwritten,    and    so    took    no    more    permanent    form 


DIVERSITY   OF    TONGUES.  1 97 

than   tliat   which   was    given    it    in    passing    from    lip 
to  Hp.     A  missionary  on  revisiting  a  tribe       Rapid 
of  Indians  after   an    absence  of  ten  years,     unwritten 
found    their    language    so   changed   in  that     ianguag:e. 
brief  period,  he  had  to  learn    it  almost   anew.     And 
a    traveller    in    Brazil    relates    that    his    guides,    from 
different    portions    of    the    same     tribe,    had    marked 
differences   of  accent   and  inflection. 

The  pen  and  printing  press  now  give  to  words 
some  legible  and  lasting  form,  and  therefore  changes 
must  be  less  rapid  than  in  the  early  history  of  the 
race.*  But  in  dealing  with  the  origin  of  language, 
and  its  earliest  development,  we  must  take  into 
account  the  conditions  of  human  life  in  its.  earliest 
period. 

Now,  on  the  theory  that  the  human  race  had 
a  common  origin,  or  if  not  that  we  deal  with  the 
historic  portion,  it  is  plain  that  at  first  and  for  a 
considerable  period,  they  must  have  been  of  one 
language  and  speech.  So  much  is  clearly  deduci- 
ble  from  what  we  know  of  human  society,  and 
from  the  similarities  that  can  be  traced  between 
all  or  most  of  the  leading  languages  of  the  earth. 
For  unity  or  affinity  of  language  is  conceded  to 
imply   unity   of  origin,   near   or  remote. 

*  Mr.  Kenry  Welsford,  in  his  "  Mithridates  Minor:  an  Essay  on 
Language"  (London,  1848),  assumes  that  unwritten  languages  change 
least ;  but  recent  observations  do  not  bear  out  the  statement. 


198  THE   CREATION. 

But   though   there  was  only  one  language  at  the 
first,    it    was    not    possible,    in    the    nature 

Different  ^ 

tongues       of  things,  that  this  should   long   continue. 

inevitable.      ^.  .  .    ,  j    1         •  •    ^       j 

Changes  m  society  and  business  introduce 
new  words  and  new  forms  of  expression,  and  these 
lead,  soon  or  late,  to  new  types  of  speech.  That 
men  came  to  speak  different  languages  is  a  fact 
plainly  stated  in  sacred  history ;  but  a  fact  not 
dependent  on  that  statement  merely  for  proof. 
We  have  proof  in  all  the  history  of  the  world,  and 
in  our  common  observation  of  the  world.  The 
tongues  have  been  confounded  to  such  extent  that 
it  requires  long  study  and  training  for  persons 
come  together  from  remote  parts  of  the  earth,  to 
learn  to  express  themselves  clearly  and  fluently  in 
each  other's  language.  Even  cognate  languages,  or 
those  having  a  common  root  and  origin,  and  each 
but  a  single  remove  from  the  original,  will  be 
found  to  possess  essential  differences  in  accent  or 
inflection,  and  not  unfrequently  in  words.  Nor  is 
anything  extraordinary  necessary  to  produce  this 
result.  It  must  inevitably  come  about,  soon  or 
late,   in   the  very   circumstances   of  the  case. 

To  make  the  matter  with  which  we  have  to  do 
as  plain  as  may  be,  let  us  go  back  somewhat  in 
the  history  of  the   infant   race. 

Spreading  out  as  they  must  have  done  from 
early    Eden ;    some    to    seek    warmer    climates    per- 


DIVERSITY  OF   TONGUES.  199 

haps   toward  the  south,   and  others  daring  the  more 
rigorous    atmosphere    toward    the    north ;      „.  , 

^  ^  History  ot 

some   moving    toward   the    mountains   and  the 

1  11  11  early  race. 

others  toward  the  valleys — the  hunters 
that  they  might  find  game  and  the  herdsmen  that 
they  might  find  pasturage — and  still  others,  given 
to  tilling  fruitful  fields,  that  they  might  find  pro- 
ductive soil,  it  is  easy  to  conceive  how  soon  so- 
ciety must  have  taken  on  something  of  the  tribal 
character.  There  were  hunter  tribes  and  shepherd 
clans,  and  other  classes  or  divisions,  according  to 
the  occupations  of  the  people.  Each  tribe  soon 
formed  a  dialect  of  its  own,  growing  in  part  out 
of  the  prevalent  mode  of  life,  and  in  this  differed 
from  all  the  neighboring  tribes. 

The  fact  that  facilities  of  travel  were  meagre, 
and  families  or  tribes  living  but  few  miles  apart 
may  have  met  but  rarely,  would  give  these  differ- 
ences the  more  opportunity  to  grow  and  become 
distinctly  marked.  Moreover,  men  in  that  day 
were  in  disposition,  doubtless,  very  much  as  they 
are  in  this;  and  as  families,  communities,  and  tribes 
grew  jealous  of  one  another's  strength,  they  would 
be  the  more  inclined  to  live  apart,  and  each  dwell 
by  itself:  all  of  which  would  tend  to  make  their 
languages    more   distinct. 

But  there  were  other  causes  tending  to  separate 
communities  and  build  up    new  types  of  speech. 


200  THE    CREATION. 

Society  makes   no  great   advances  till   men   start 
up  here    and    there,   full   of    enterprise    or 

Other  causes:       ■'■ 

ambitious  full  of  ambition,  and  set  themselves  to  at- 
leaders.  ^^.^  place  and  power  above  their  fellows. 
They  conceive  the  plan  of  uniting  several  families 
in  a  tribe,  or  several  communities  in  a  state,  over 
which  they  may  rule  ;  or,  gathering  a  great  number 
of  tribes  into  one  vast  empire,  as  did  Rurik  in 
Northern   Europe   a  thousand   years   ago. 

First   among  the  men  of  this  type,  of  whom  we 
have  any   record,    was   Nimrod,   who    "  be- 

Nimrod.  gan  to  be  a  mighty  one  in  the  earth." 
"A  mighty  hunter  before  the  Lord"  he 
is  styled.  A  mighty  conqueror  he  was,  for  that 
day  it  seems,  as  well.  The  account  given  of  this 
man  in  the  tenth  of  Genesis  is  very  brief,  but  full 
of  grave  significance.  He  seems  to  have  conceived 
the  idea  of  uniting  all  the  tribes  in  a  single  king- 
dom, of  which,  very  naturally,  he  aspired  to  be 
king.  He  saw  how  men  were  scattered  abroad  to 
the  east  and  to  the  west,  to  the  north  and  to  the 
south.  He  saw  the  broad  and  fruitful  valley  of 
the  Euphrates,  and  it  seems  to  have  occurred  to 
him  that  this  was  the  place  for  the  seat  of  a  great 
empire.  Accordingly  he  went  to  work,  with  such 
means  as  were  at  his  command.  Every  tribe  sub- 
dued or  won  to  his  standard  increased  his  strength 
and   added  to   his    fame,  and  in  process  of  time   he 


DIVERSITY  OF   TONGUES.  20I 

succeeded  in  good  measure  in  his  scheme.  Like 
all  great  rulers,  he  sought  to  centralize  his  power 
and  so  combine  these  communities  in  one,  that 
they  should  forget  they  had  ever  been  separate 
peoples. 

He    built   his    capital   with    all    the    magnificence 
he   could    command.      And  when  the   val- 
ley   of  the  Tigris  was    added  to  his  realm   ^^,^^^°"  ^"^ 

^  ^  Nineveh. 

he    founded  other  great    cities,   and    Baby- 
lon   and    Nineveh,  both    most    wonderful    cities    of 
their    time,   are    accounted    among  the    fruits    of  his 
enterprise,   skill,   and  power. 

One  daring  device,  attributed  to  him  or  to  his 
people,  was  to  rear  an  immense  tower  in 
the  midst  of  the  valley  of  the  Euphrates,  '^^^  ^^^^^ 
which  should  overtop  any  other  structure 
ever  reared  by  man  ;  a  tower  of  so  great  height  it 
should  serve  as  a  beacon  to  all  the  tribes,  not  only 
in  the  valley  but  far  away  upon  the  mountains, 
and  would  tend  to  convince  men  in  all  time  to 
come,  that  here  was  the  mightiest  power  in  all  the 
earth,  rivalling  even  the  power  upon  the  throne  of 
heaven  itself.  This  structure  was  designed  not 
only  as  a  monument  of  greatness,  but  as  a  centre 
about  which  the  national  pride  might  gather,  and 
the  national  memories  cluster ;  a  sort  of  magnet, 
to  draw  the  people  together  and  kindle  in  them  a 
popular   sentiment    of    unity,    so    that    there   should 


202  THE   CREATION. 

be  no  more  desire  to  separate  from  this  greatest  of 
kingdoms  ;  no  more  an  inclination  to  be  scattered 
abroad  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  It  was  to  be  a 
sort  of  shrine,  as  Jerusalem  was  to  the  Hebrews  of 
a  later  day,  as  Mecca  is  to  the   Mussulmen  to-day. 

With  this  bold  and  far-reaching  design  they  set 
to  work.  Whether  the  scheme  commanded  at 
once  the  approval  and  willing  aid  of  all  concerned 
in  it,  or  was  carried  on  as  the  work  of  a  master 
mind  to  which  all  others  were  in  subordination,  we 
have  no  certain  means  of  knowing,  nor  is  it  im- 
portant for  our  present  purpose.  But  the  work 
began.  They  made  bricks  and  they  used  asphalt 
for  mortar;  the  use  of  lime  for  such  purpose  then 
being  probably  unknown.  The  best  skill  of  the 
times  was  doubtless  brought  into  requisition,  for 
the  structure  was  designed  to  have  something 
more    than    a  transient    interest    and    importance. 

The    whole    affair    is    briefly    set    forth    in    the 

story  of  the  Tower  of  Babel.     And   fortu- 
The  ^ 

Tower  of  nately,  where  the  Bible  record  fails  us,  by 
reason  of  its  brevity,  other  history  comes 
in  to  give  us  some  detail.  Ancient  writers  vie 
with  one  another  in  describing  the  wonders  and 
magnificence  of  the  tower.  As  nearly  as  can  now 
be  determined  it  was  about  five  hundred  feet 
square  at  the  base  and  eight  stories  high,  each 
story    being   of    great    height    and    the    whole    over 


DIVERSITY  OF   TONGUES.  203 

topping  any  other  building  ever  reared  by  human 
hands.  The  tower  was  solid  throughout,  except 
the  upper  story,  which  was  fitted  up  in  royal  style, 
for  the  pagan  god  that  was  supposed  sometimes 
to  come  down  from  heaven  and  perch  upon  the 
high  places  of  the  earth.  This  is  a  description  in 
brief,  of  the  tower  as  it  was  designed  to  be. 
Whether  it  was  completed  we  do  not  definitely 
know,  though  we  are  well  assured  it  was  begun 
and  raised  to  a  considerable  height,  for  what  are 
presumed  to  be  the  remains  are  still  to  be  seen 
to-day. 

As  the  traveller  approaches   the  Euphrates  from 
the     west,   a    little    south    of    Babylon,    a 

,  .  .  ,  1  ,    .  ,  Ruins  of 

huge  rum  rises  m  the  plam,  and  serves  t^e  tower, 
as  a  landmark  for  those  both  far  and 
near.  The  base  is  of  irregular  and  indefinite  ex- 
tent, as  any  structure  would  be  that  had  fallen  to 
decay,  but  the  height  is  about  two  hundred  feet. 
The  people  thereabout  call  it  Nimrod's  Mountain  ; 
but  it  is  made  of  brick  laid  in  asphalt,  and  known 
thence  to  be  not  a  natural  but  an  artificial  struc- 
ture. And  everything  about  it — the  name,  the  lo- 
cation, the  method  of  construction,  and  its  very 
ancient  date — so  ancient  no  man  pretends  to  fix 
it — combine  to  identify  it  with  the  tower  that  the 
people  builded  so  long  ago,  under  Nimrod's  rule, 
as    a    testimony    to   all    the    nations    of    the    earth. 


204  THE   CREATION. 

This  tower,  according  to  traditional  account  and 
such  historic  record  as  we  have,  was  never  com- 
pleted. 

For   the    failure    to    carry   out    so    magnificent    a 
design,  various  causes  may  be  assicrned   in 

Possible  ^    '  /  t> 

causes  of      the  ordinary  passage    of  events. 

I.  Nimrod  was  a  tyrant.  There  can 
be  little  doubt  of  that ;  for  none  but  a  tyrant  can 
hold  crude  peoples  together  and  compel  them  to 
any  toilsome  enterprise.  Tyrants  may  have  their 
way  for  a  time,  but  human  nature  too  sorely  tried 
will  revolt,  and  any  wide-spread  revolution  would 
stop  the   work. 

2.  The  attempt  to  mould  together  in  a  com- 
mon band,  tribes  of  so  many  different  tendencies 
and  ways  of  life,  without  some  underlying  senti- 
ment of  unity,  would  be  hazardous  in  any  case, 
and  especially  so  where  mutual  jealousies  of  tribes 
tended  to  make  them  continually  suspicious  of  one 
another.  It  is  found  practically  impossible  to  bring 
our  Indian   tribes   together  in  a  single   government. 

3.  Kings  do  not  always  live — even  if  we  suppose, 
as  some  do,  that  Nimrod  represented  a  dynasty 
instead  of  an  individual,  the  case  is  not  changed 
in  this  respect.  And  when  the  place  of  a  powerful 
potentate  is  left  vacant  and  must  be  supplied,  all 
the  petty  aspirants,  with  their  several  factions,  come 
into  conflict,  and    a   degree    of  violence  ensues   that 


DIVERSITY  OF    TONGUES.  20$ 

scatters  the  kingdom  more  widely  than  before  the 
attempt  at  unity  was  made.  The  kingdom  is  broken 
up.  And  the  cause  of  rupture  continues  to  breed 
animosities  between  the  different  sections,  which 
destroy  what  little  harmony  had  grown  up  among 
them,  and  build  partition  walls  between  them. 

These  are  some  of  the  causes  that,  in  the  or- 
dinary course  of  human  events,  would  tend  to 
destroy  the  kingdom  and  scatter  the  people  abroad 
again.  And  thus  each  family,  tribe,  or  clan  would 
be  left  to  itself,  to  find  its  own  territory,  devise 
its  own  mode  of  life,  and,  as  we  have  seen,  to  form 
a  dialect   and  eventually  a  language   of  its  own. 

Let   us  observe  before  going  farther  the  basis  of 
fact    and    reasonable    inference,    on    which 
our    theory    rests,    in    the    particular    case    Conditions 

•>  '  ^  of  the  case. 

we  have  been   tracing. 

1.  There  were  the  people  scattered  over  an  ex- 
tent of  territory,  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the 
very  cradle  of  the  human  i-ace.  It  could  hardly 
have  been  otherwise,  at  that  early  day,  than  that 
the  tribes  and  families  should  have  clustered  in 
that  section   of  the  world. 

2.  There  was  Nimrod,  a  mighty  conqueror  and 
first  among  the  great  kings  and  tyrants  of  the 
earth.  If  no  name  were  given,  we  know  from  all 
human  history,  that  such  men  do  now  and  then 
arise  and  impress  themselves  upon  their  age. 


206  THE    CREATION. 

3.  There  was  the  tower  in  the  same  locality,  of 
whose  size  and  structure  there  is  no  chance  for 
doubt,  since  the  ruin  still  remains  to  tell  the  story 
for  itself.  On  these  facts  and  plain  inferences,  our 
theory  of  the   great  dispersion  is   based. 

The  account  in  Genesis  gives  a  somewhat  dif- 
ferent version  of  the  immediate  cause  of 
^'^\^^Z'  the  dispersion  at  the  Tower  of  Babel. 
And  yet  the  essential  facts  of  that  nar- 
rative are  involved  and  accounted  for,  in  the 
theory  above  developed,  as  we  think,  will  readily 
appear  as  we  proceed.  The  record  is  of  un- 
doubted Hebrew  origin,  and  reflects  the  Hebrew 
idea   of  the  divine  character  and  procedure. 

The  facts  on  which  the  account  was  based 
were  these  : 

1.  Here  were  these  people   living  in   close   prox- 

imity,   but     unable     to     understand     each 
^^lto°/^^^    other's  speech.     It  seemed   a  divine  judg- 
ment  upon  them   for  some  offence. 

2.  There  stood  the  tower.  The  people  of  the 
region  explained  that  the  attempt  had  been  made 
to  build  it  up  to  heaven.  It  was  accounted  an 
impious  as  well  as  daring  scheme.  And  the  ready 
interpretation  was  that  the  consequence  appeared 
in  the  curse  of  confusion  that  had  come  upon 
these  scattered  tribes.  The  Hebrew  idea  of  the 
ways   of  God   with    men,   supplies   the   only  element 


DIVERSITY  OF    TONGUES.  20; 

necessary   to    make    the    two  accounts,  in    all  essen- 
tial  points,   the  same. 

Now,  we  return  to  the  proposition  stated  in  the 
beginning,  that  while  there  was  but  one  language 
at  the  first,  as  men  increased  in  numbers  and 
varied  in  locality  and  occupations,  their  forms  of 
speech  became  more  and  more  diverse,  and  the  re- 
sult was  different  languages. 

The     multiplication    of     tongues     had    probably 
begun    before    the   events    of  Babel.      But     j)j^gj.5j^jg3 
the    confusion    became    more    decided    and       before 

Babel. 

the  differences   more  pronounced,    by   rea- 
son of  the   rupture   of  the   great  kingdom,   and    the 
ambitions,  hates,  jealousies,  and  bitter  tyrannies    re- 
sulting,   which    served     to     drive    the     tribes     more 
widely  asunder    than  they    had    ever    been   before. 

But  the  Babel-builders  were  not  the  only  rep- 
resentatives of  their  race.  We  touch  a  principle 
here  that  reaches  far  and  wide,  and  the  story  has 
been    repeated  many  times   in   human    history. 

Nimrod  is  not  the  only  conqueror  who  has 
conceived  the  daring  scheme  of  uniting  all  the 
nations  of  the  earth  in  one;  nor  the  only  con- 
queror in  whom  ambition  has  quite  o'erleaped  itself. 

Alexander    and    Napoleon    are    names 

,-        .,.  -T-1      •  1  The  story 

more  familiar  to   us.     Their  schemes  were      repeated. 
no  less  audacious   and   scarcely    less  disas- 
trous  in    their    results.     A   daring    game    has    been 


208  THE    CREATION. 

played  on  the  stage  of  Europe  in  very  recent  years. 
The  hungry   northern  bear   has   had   his  giant  paws 
almost    on    the  prize    along  the   Hellespont    he    has 
coveted   so  long.      The   British    lion,   somewhat    dis- 
comfited, showed  signs  of  war,  but  was  appeased  for 
the  time,  by  a  liberal  share  of  the  incidental  spoils. 
While    the    master    spirit    of    the    continent    looked 
on,    from    the    safe    distance    of   the    German    court, 
marking   out  the  map  of  Europe    as  he   intended    it 
should     be.        Never     were     planned     more     daring 
schemes,  and  never  was  ambition  more   ambitious. 
But    all    history    proves    that    ambition    has    its 
limits  and  its  checks.     And  that    there  is 
Lesson  of     ^  Po^yer    above    the    world    that    is    more 

the  ages. 

than  any  power  in  the  world,  ought  to 
be  sufficiently  apparent,  in  the  fact  that  the  abor- 
tive schemes  of  designing  men  are  somehow  turned 
to  good  account,  in  the  progress  of  the  human 
race.  "All  new  languages,"  says  Bunsen,  quoted 
by  Dr.  Hedge,  "have  arisen  from  the  breaking  up 
of  some  great  political  bond  which  imposed  one 
speech  on   its    constituents." 

The  breaking  up  of  the  Latin  empire  gave 
birth  to  no  less  than  five  of  the  languages,  that 
are  spoken   in   Southern    Europe    now. 

And  this  is  only  one  of  the  many  facts  to  be 
considered  in  the  contemplation  of  this  subject 
The   youth   who    would    accomplish    anything    must 


DIVERSITY   OF   TONGUES.  209 

not  remain  in  leading-strings,  but  strike  out  for 
himself.  The  same  is  true  of  nations  as 
of  individuals.  The  nations  that  spread  Conclusion, 
out  into  all  the  earth,  after  the  great 
dispersion,  accomplished  more  in  the  way  of  dis- 
covery and  invention,  of  enterprise  and  progress, 
than  would  have  been  possible  had  they  remained 
grouped  together,  in  any  single  section  of  the 
world.  When  Caesar  sat  upon  the  throne,  Rome 
was  accounted  mistress  of  the  world.  Discord  and 
confusion  entered  in  and  her  imperial  dignity  was 
sacrificed.  But  all  Europe  since,  is  peopled  with 
nations  that  vie  with  one  another,  in  industry  and 
enterprise  such  as  Rome  never  knew ;  and  so  the 
defeated  schemes,  of  here  and  there  a  single  man, 
promote  the  happiness  and  progress  of  the  human 
race. 


XI. 


Antiquity  of  Man 


"  What  is  man  ?     .     .     . 
Thou  madest  him  to  have  dominion  over  the  works  of 
Thy  hand. 
Thou  hast  put  all  things  under  his  feet." 

—  The  Psalmist. 

'■'■  Chronologists  are  agreed  that  about  2,000  years  B.C. 
Abraham  migrated  from  Mesopotamia  to  Canaan,  and,  that  at 
this  time,  Egypt  at  least  was  old  in  civilization.  Beyond  this,  we 
have  no  positive  scale  of  time." — Pattison. 

.     .     .     ''Tongues,  that  syllable  man's  name. 
On  sands  and  shores,  and  desert  wilderness." 

—Milton. 


XL 

THE  ANTIQUITY  OF    MAN. 

Man  is  a  recent  comer  upon  the  earth;  the 
last,  indeed,  of  which  we  have  any  rec-  ^^^  ^^^  ^^^^ 
ord.     But  in    saying    his  coming   is    recent       of  the 

,  ,  ,       .  1      .  Creation. 

we    use   the  word  only  m  a  relative  sense. 
A  period  of  time  may   be    absolutely  long,   yet   rel- 
atively  short — short    as   compared    with    the   whole 
lapse  of  time  from   the   beginning  until  now. 

The  past  half  century  has  witnessed  very  im- 
portant changes   in   our  chronological   tables. 

Archbishop  Usher,  of  the  English  Church,  some 
two  and  a  half  centuries  since,  taking  the 
Bible  narrative  as  his  guide,  made  the  chronoio^. 
period  of  man's  occupancy  of  the  earth, 
somewhere  from  four  thousand  and  four  to  four 
thousand  one  hundred  and  seventy-four  (4004  to 
4174)  years  before  Christ,  or  say,  in  round  num- 
bers, six  thousand  years  to  the  present  date.  It 
is  evident,  however,  to  any  careful  reader  in  this 
day,  that  there  are  wide  intervals  of  time  in  that 
narrative,    for    which   no    allowance    is    made    in    the 


214  THE   CREATION. 

good  bishop's  calculation.  A  descendant  of  David 
of  the  tenth  generation,  was  a  "  son  of  David  "  as 
much  as  one  of  the  first ;  and  persons  of  small  im- 
portance were  doubtless  omitted  from  the  record 
entirely. 

The  vagueness  and  uncertainty  of  such  calcula- 
tions may  be  illustrated  in  this  wise.  If  in  some 
far  future  age,  all  knowledge  of  this  country  shall 
have  faded  into  dim  tradition,  and  the  attempt 
shall  be  made  to  re-write  its  history,  it  is  con- 
ceivable that  the  names  of  Washington  and  Lin- 
coln may  alone  survive,  in  the  list  of  our  chief 
rulers.  And  if  on  that  account,  the  reader  shall 
conclude  that  the  administration  of  the  latter 
matched  on  to  that  of  the  former,  and  that  at  its 
close  the  government  came  to  an  end,  it  is  evi- 
dent he  will  get  but  a  meagre  idea  of  the  times 
so  full  of  interest  to  us.  So  the  Old  Testament 
record  must  be  regarded  not  as  a  consecutive  his- 
tory, but  a  series  of  fragments,  with  wide  lapses 
often  between  events  there  narrated  in  close  and 
continuous   order. 

Still,  men  feeling  a  sort  of  security  in  definite 
dates,  and  little  given  perhaps  to  speculation,  ac- 
cepted Usher's  chronology,  with  little  question, 
for  many  years.  But  facts,  long  unconsidered  or 
held  to  be  of  small  importance,  have  forced  a  re- 
vision   of  opinion   on    the   subject.      Some    of  these 


ANTIQUITY  OF  MAN.  21$ 

facts     it     is    our    purpose    to    consider    in    this    dis- 
course. 

Written    history    does    not    carry    us    back  more 
than   four  thousand  years.     The  Egyptian         ^^^^ 
monuments  —  accounted    the  oldest    struc-      limits  of 

r        1      •  1  •  •    ^  history. 

tures  of  their  class  m  existence  —  may 
carry  us  three  thousand  years  farther.  The  earliest 
records,  therefore,  of  such  character  do  not  go  back 
more  than  seven  thousand  years.  The  best  au- 
thorities, as  Lepsius  and  Bunsen,  make  the  period 
something  less,  while  ChampoUion  and  Mariette 
somewhat   extend    it. 

But  whatever  date  may  be  assigned  to  the  early 
Egyptian  temples,  obelisks,  and  inscriptions,  beyond 
these  we  have  no  written  history  and  no  monu- 
mental records,  excepting  such  as  pertain  to  habita- 
tions, implements,  and  modes  of  life  of  a  people  of 
whose  existence  we  have  not  even  a  tradition  pre- 
served among   recent   inhabitants   of  the  world. 

No  existing  race  traces  its  lineage  to  the  Cave- 
dwellers  of  Bel£[ium,  the  "  Kitchen-midden  "    _   ,.     . 

•^  Indications 

men  of  Denmark,  to  the  Mound-builders  beyond  tradi- 
of  America,  or  even  to  the  Lake-dwellers 
of  Switzerland.  There  is  doubtless  a  connection 
between  those  ancient  races  and  the  men  that  live 
to-day,  but  the  line  is  lost  in  a  period  of  blank 
obscurity   between. 

And  suppose  we  go  back  to  Egypt    seven  thou- 


2l6  THE    CREATION. 

sand  years  ago,  we  do  not  find  the  human  race 
there  in  its  infancy.  They  had  a  language,  not 
merely  of  signs  but  of  vocal  utterances — a  written 
language,  not  of  mystic  hieroglyphs  only,  but  of 
characters  that  may  still  be  read ;  they  had  exten- 
sive knowledge  of  many  useful  arts,  and  they  had 
a  well-established  form  of  government.  Men  do 
not  leap  at  a  bound  to  such  condition.  It  took 
the  Hebrews  a  thousand  years,  from  the  departure 
of  Abraham  from  his  early  home  to  develop  a  sys- 
tematic and  stable  government.  And  if  it  be  said 
their  captivity  in  Egypt  hindered  their  progress,  it 
is  quite  as  reasonable  to  suppose  that  their  contact 
with  Egyptian  institutions  and  their  knowledge  of 
Egyptian  government,  also  helped  their  progress. 
If  the  process  was  impeded  in  one  direction  it  was 
facilitated  in  another.  Besides,  these  people  had 
already  reached  the  tribal  condition,  with  a  patri- 
archial  head,  before  their  migration  began,  which 
implies  a  considerable  history  or  experience  still 
back   of  that   point. 

If,    then,  we    suppose    the     Egyptians     to     have 
lived   under   an  established  monarchy,  and 

Remote 

infancy  of     to   have    built     and    inscribed    monuments 
the  race.      ^^^^^     thousand    years    ago,    it    is    evident 
the    infancy  of  the    race,  and  even   of  that    particu- 
lar    people,     must     have    dated    far     back    of    that 
There  had   been  time  to  invent,  construct,   and  sys- 


ANTIQUITY  OF  MAN.  21/ 

tematize  language ;  to  invent,  discover,  apply,  and 
improve  some  of  the  arts  ;  to  try  various  rude  ex- 
periments of  government  in  family,  clan,  and  tribe, 
and  to  pass  from  dependence  on  the  chase  to  the 
care  of  flocks,  and  from  the  nomad's  tent  to  the 
fixed  habitation. 

In  any  attempt  to  trace  this  remote  condition 
of  mankind   the   ordinary    means  of   inves- 

^  Failure 

tigation  fail   us    utterly.     There    is   neither    of  common 
document     nor    monumental    record,     and 
even   the   dim  light   of  tradition   is   wanting. 

Our  dependence  must  be  upon  the  manifest 
changes  in  the  condition  of  the  human  race,  know- 
ing those  changes  to  be  wrought  by  slow  degrees, 
or  upon  changes  in  the  earth,  as  to  climate,  sur- 
face deposits,  and  forms  of  life,  since  man's  earliest 
appearance.  If,  for  instance  we  find  the  remains 
of  man  —  either  skeleton  or  handicraft  —  in  cave- 
deposit,  shell-heap  or  peat-growth,  associated  with 
the  bones  of  animals  long  since  extinct,  we  are 
justified  in  assigning  a  remote  antiquity  to  such 
remains.  If  clear  indications  of  man  are  found  in 
rock  or  undisturbed  gravel,  at  a  given  depth  be- 
low the  surface,  and  we  find  means  to  determine 
the  rate  of  deposit  of  such  formation,  and  the 
length  of  time  since  the  deposit  ceased,  we  may 
calculate  with  moderate  certainty  the  length  of 
time   since   such   men  lived. 


2l8  THE   CREATION. 

We  must  use   caution,  however,  not  to  attach   a 

definite    value    or     measurement     to     pro- 
Necessity 

of  cesses    or    agencies    which    by    their    very 

caution.  nature  are  variable,  and  therefore  indefi- 
nite. The  rate  of  river  erosions,  for  instance,  on 
which  much  reliance  is  sometimes  placed,  varies 
according  to  the  quantity  of  water  and  rapidity  of 
the  current  ;  and  these  may  change  from  year  to 
year,  still  more  from  one  century  to  another. 
Likewise,  the  growth  of  peat  and  accumulation  of 
stalagmitic  crusts,  vary  between  wide  limits  in  dif- 
ferent localities,  and  from  time  to  time  in  the  same 
place.  Again,  great  changes  of  climate,  and  entire 
change  of  the  types  of  vegetable  and  animal  life, 
may  be  regarded  as  indicating  extended  periods  of 
time,  but  we  do  not  sufficiently  understand  the 
causes  of  these  changes  to  make  them  the  basis 
of  definite  calculations.  Indeed,  it  is  quite  evident 
that  such  changes  are  far  from  uniform  in  their 
rates  of  progress. 

There  are  certain  indications,  however,  that  may 
be   studied  with    more    confidence.     These 
dependence,   ^rc     found      chiefly     in     peat-bogs,     cave- 
deposits,    shell-heaps,    and    in    remains    of 
ancient    habitations    in    Switzerland    known    as   lake- 
dwellings. 

But   to    facilitate    our    study   let    us   lay    out    our 
work  more   definitely  ;    considering  first  the  geologi- 


ANTIQUITY   OF  MAN.  219 

cal  divisions  of  the  Quaternary  Age,  and  then  the 
periods  into  which  the  era  of  man's  existence  is 
usually  divided. 

The  geologist  commonly  divides  the   Quaternary 
Age     of    the    earth's     history     into     three 

^  _  •'  Periods  of 

periods,  the  Glacial,  Champlain,  and  Ter-  the  Quater- 
race.  For  convenience  in  our  discussion  "^'^^  ^^' 
we  have  added  a  fourth,  the  Present  period  cor- 
responding to  what  Prof.  B.  F.  Mudge,  of  Kansas, 
has  styled  the  Delta  period,  in  allusion  to  the  de- 
posits now  forming  at  the  mouths  of  great  rivers, 
as   the   Mississippi,   the  Nile,  and   the  Ganges.* 

In   the   first,   or  glacial  period,  all  or  the  greater 
part    of   this    continent,    as    far    south    as 
the   Ohio    River  and   the   southern  line    of      period 
Pennsylvania,    was    covered    with    a   great 
depth  of  ice,  as  shown   by  glacial  scratches,   and  by 
erratic    boulders    scattered   here   and   there   over  the 
country,  at  a  wide  distance  from  the  beds  in  which 
they    originated.     And   in    Europe  the   ice   prevailed 
as    far    south     as    Northern     Italy.        This    was,    of 
course,    a    period    of    extreme    cold.       There    could 
have  been   little,  if   any   life,   either   animal   or   vege- 
table, in  the  higher  latitudes,   and   man   could   have 
lived  only    along  the   skirts    of  the   glacier,   or    after 
it  had  retreated. 

*  The  reader  is  here  referred  to  the  upper  section  of  the  Chart  af- 
fixed to  the  Sixth  Lecture.    Page  123. 


220  THE    CREATION. 

The  animal  kingdom  was  represented  by  the 
Mammoth  and  Rhinoceros,  which  had  survived 
from  an  earHer  period,  the  Cave-bear  and  Hyena, 
and  somewhat  later  by  the  Reindeer;  all  of  which 
have  been  long  extinct,  save  the  Reindeer,  which 
has  migrated  to  a  northern  clime,  following  close, 
as  would  seem,   upon  the   receding   ice. 

Succeeding  the   Glacial,   or   "  Great   Ice  "  period, 
came  the    Champiain,  marked    by   a  lower 

^erkxd^^    general   level   of  land,  a  consequent  wider 
extent  of  sea  and  warmer  climate. 

In  this  period  the  glaciers  melted  in  the  re- 
gions now  covered  by  the  temperate  zones,  re- 
treated northward  or  toward  mountain  tops,  leav- 
ing their  vast  accumulations  of  rocks,  gravel,  clay, 
sand,  and  the  like,  to  which  the  geologist  applies 
the  general  name  of  Diluvium  or  Drift.  The  ani- 
mals of  this  period  differed  in  a  marked  degree 
from  those  of  the  preceding,  as  the  changed  cli- 
mate would  lead  us  to  expect,  and  included  the 
huge  sloth-like  Megatherium,  with  a  considerable 
number  that  still  survive,  as  the  lion,  tiger,  wild 
boar,  ox,  horse,  and  deer.  There  were  monkies 
also  in  Asia  and  marsupials   in   Australia. 

Following    the     Champiain    came    the 

'^^IJkS      Terrace     period,    during    which    the    land 

gradually    rose    again,    the    sea   withdrew 

to  its  present  limits,  and  the  successive  levels  called 


ANTIQUITY   OF  MAN.  221 

Terraces  were  formed  along  the  rivers  by  the  grad- 
ual withdrawal  of  the  streams  to  narrow  and  deeper 
channels.  Some  fine  examples  of  the  terraces  ot 
this  period  may  be  observed  at  Walpole  and  Han- 
over, N.  H.,  and  elsewhere  along  the  valley  of  the 
Connecticut.  The  climate  again  had  undergone  a 
change  ;  was  colder  than  that  of  the  Champlain, 
but  milder  than  that  of  the  Glacial  epoch.  The 
animals  were  similar  to  those  that  live  to-day,  and 
need  not   therefore   be   described    or  named. 

Now,  as  to  the  bearing  of  these  facts  upon  the 
subject  we  have  in  hand.  There  is  no  doubt  of 
the  existence  of  man  from  the  earlier  Champlain 
through  the  whole  of  the  Terrace  period,  to  the 
present.  There  is  little  question  but  that  man 
lived  in  southerly  latitudes  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  Glacial  period.  Beyond  that  we  must  proceed 
with  extreme  caution.     But  let  us  not  anticipate. 

Having  noted  particularly  the  different  geologi- 
cal periods  into  which  the  Quaternary  Age  of  the 
earth  is  divided,  let  us  mark  next  the  periods 
into  which  it  is  customary  to  divide  the  era  of 
man's  existence ;  observing  that  the  two  series  are 
entirely  independent  of  each  other. 

Archaeologists    distinguish    four    differ-    The  Era  of 
ent    periods    in    the    existence   of    the    hu- 
man race,  according  to  the  degree    of   advancement 
in  art,  namely  : 


222  THE   CREATION. 

1.  The   Paleolithic,  or   Rough  Stone  Age. 

2.  The   Neolithic,  or  Polished  Stone  Age. 

3.  The  Bronze  Age,  and 

4.  The  Iron  'Age. 

Some    authorities    recognize    still    other    distinc- 
tions and  mark  other  divisions.     But    the    above    is 
very  simple  and  sufficiently  exact   for    our   purpose. 
The    Rough   Stone  Age   marks   the   rudest    stage 
_,  of  man's   existence ;    when    arrows,    knives 

The 

Paleolithic     and    Other    implements    of    the  chase    and 

^^'         for    domestic    use,    were    roughly    shapen 

from   hard  stone,  chiefly  flint  and  argillite. 

The     Polished     Stone   Age    marks    a    period    of 

some  advancement  upon  the  condition    of 
The  ^ 

Neolithic     the    former,    when    men    had     learned     to 
^^'         smooth   and  polish  their  implements  ;   and 
they  employed  a  greater  variety  of  hard  stones,  in- 
cluding porphyry,    greenstone,    and    occasionally   ob 
sidian   and  jasper. 

The  Bronze  Age  marks  the   early   use    of  metals 
in  the  arts — not   the  earliest,  certainly,  for 

The 

Bronze  men  must  have  used  copper  before  they 
^^'  learned  to  mix  it  with  tin,  producing  the 
alloy  known  as  bronze.  But  where  metal  was  used 
in  the  same  way  as  stone,  that  is,  without  fusing 
and  moulding,  the  people  must  be  regarded  as  still 
in  the  Stone  Age. 

The     Iron    Age    marks    the    higher    civilization, 


ANTIQUITY  OF  MAN.  22^ 

when    men,    having    learned    mining    and    smelting, 

began    to    produce    that     most    useful    of 

all  the    metals.     Wherever    the    history   of        ^^  '^^^ 

^  Age. 

man  has  been  definitely  traced,  he  seems 
to  have  passed  through  these  several  stages,  or  to 
be  passing  through  them  now.  Where  iron  is  in 
use  at  present,  metals  more  easily  obtained  were 
once  employed,  and  before  that,  stone  served  the 
purpose,  either  rudely  fashioned  or  smoothly  and 
neatly  shapen,  according  to  the  knowledge  and  skill 
of  the  workmen. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  "  Stone 
Acre"    does    not    indicate    any    particular 

^_  /       r  u  Stone  Age" 

period    of  the  earth's  history,  but  a  cer-  not  a  geoiogi- 

^    .  1  c       •    -y       ,•  1  -  cal  distinction. 

tarn  grade  of  civilization  or  degree  of 
advancement  among  men.  The  Stone  Age  in 
France  and  that  in  Denmark  may  have  been  con- 
temporaneous, or  they  may  have  been  wide  apart. 
And  while  we  speak  of  the  Stone  Age  in  Europe 
as  very  remote,  the  American  Indians  were  in  the 
Stone  Age  less  than  three  centuries  ago,  and  some 
of  the  South  Sea  Islanders  are  passing  through 
that  period   now. 

In  some  sections  of  the  world  the  advance  has 
been  much  more  rapid  than  in  others ;  and  there 
have  been  cases,  no  doubt,  of  relapse  from  the 
higher  conditions  of  society  to  the  rude  and  bar- 
barous state.     But  this  does  not  effect  the  fact  that 


224  THE    CREATION. 

the  general  tendency  and  direction  has  been  from 
the  lower  toward  the  higher  levels,  in  skill  and 
knowledge  and  in   the  use   of  the  arts. 

And  now,  what  aid  will  these  considerations  ren- 
der us  in  tracing  man's  antiquity?     Let  us  see. 
If,    in    a   country    long    inhabited    by    a    highly 
civilized    people    we     find    relics    of     the 
A  gradual     stone    As^e,  we    are    compelled    to    assisrn 

advancement.  *^  i  o 

to  them  a  remote  antiquity;  for  the  rea- 
son that  men  do  not  pass  rapidly,  or  in  any  brief 
period  from  one  age  and  condition  to  another, 
much  less  through  the  several  grades  from  the 
lowest   to  the  highest. 

The  people  of  the  Paleolithic  Age  must  have 
learned  by  slow  degrees  to  smooth  and  perfect 
their  spears  and  hatchets,  and  it  was  only  when 
the  rude  implements  had  given  way  to  the  better 
workmanship,  that  the  people  were  fairly  in  the 
Neolithic  or  age  of  polished  stone.  The  periods 
thus  overlap  each  other.  And  a  like  gradual  ad- 
vance no  doubt  marked  the  changes  to  the  ages  of 
Bronze  and    Iron. 

Again,    when    with    buried     implements    we    find 

the    remains    of    animals    known    to    have 

Remains 

of  extinct  ani-  been    long    extinct,  we    have    further    evi- 
dence of  the  remoteness  of  the  period  in 
which  such   implements   were  made  ;  for  neither  the 
plants    nor    the    animals    of  the    world    change    sud- 


ANTIQUITY   OF  MAN.  225 

denly,  except  in  case  of  some  abrupt  and  violent 
change  in  the  climate  or  other  physical  condition 
of  the  earth  ;  and  geology  does  not  discover  any 
such  convulsive  change  within  the  period  of  man's 
existence. 

The  fact  that  plants  and  animals  adapted  to  a 
tropical  clime  once  occupied  the  middle  latitudes, 
and  again  that  the  reindeer,  now  found  in  Arctic 
regions,  once  wandered  to  the  south  of  France,  in- 
dicate remarkable  changes  of  climate,  and  we  may 
suppose,  equally  great  changes  of  animal  and  vege- 
table life.  But  we  have  no  reason  to  suppose  these 
changes  to  have  been  cataclysmal ;  rather,  that  they 
were  gradually  wrought,  and  therefore  covered  a 
vast   period   of  time. 

But  let  us  note  a  few  facts  bearing  directly 
upon   the   subject. 

The  first  marked  and  conclusive  evidence  of 
the  great  antiquity  of  man — we  mean 
greater  than  that  of  Usher's  chronologi-  g-j-^vei  beds 
cal  reckoning — was  found  in  the  ancient 
gravel  beds  along  the  valley  of  the  river  Somme, 
in  northern  France.  Here  Boucher  de  Perthes 
began  his  researches,  and  here  Lyell  and  other 
English  scientists  followed.  In  the  gravel,  which 
still  lay  undisturbed,  were  found  flint  implements, 
evidently  the  work  of  human  hands  ;  and  as  the 
river    had    slowly    carved     out    its    channel     to     the 


226  THE   CREATION. 

depth  of  sixty  feet  since  those  deposits  were  made, 
it  was  evident  the  implements  represented  a  re- 
mote period  of  time.  They  were  the  work  of  the 
"  Stone  Folk" — in  other  words,  belonged  to  the 
Stone  Age. 

In  caves  of   France,  Belgium,  and   England  have 
^^    ^  been  found  human  remains,  either    bones 

The  Cave- 
dwellers        or     implements,    under     accumulations    of 

(Troglodytes).  .  ,  ,  .  ,  .      , . 

cave-earth  and  stalagmite,  that  mdicate  a 
great  lapse  of  time.  They  are  usually  associated 
with  remains  of  the  cave-bear,  hyena,  mammoth, 
and  other  animals,  most  of  which  are  now,  and 
have  been  for  a  long  period  extinct.  These  caves 
were  places  of  refuge  and  probably  habitations  of 
primitive  man.  Thither  they  carried  game  for 
food,  and  animals  sought  the  refuse  they  left  be- 
hind. And  now  the  remains  of  man  and  beast  lie 
confusedly  together. 

Sometimes  the  caves  were  used  as  burial-places, 
and  charred  wood,  the  remains  of  fire  used  in  pre- 
paring the  funeral  feasts,  or  possibly  for  purposes 
of  cremation,  are  found  near  the  entrance.  Skele- 
tons are  rarely  obtained  in  sufficient  state  of  pres- 
ervation to  admit  of  exact  investigation.  Two  or 
three  skulls,  however,  have  attracted  so  much  at- 
tention as  to  demand  some  special  mention. 

The  "  Neanderthal  Skull,"  discovered  in  1857, 
beneath   a   depth   of    four    or    five    feet    of  earth    or 


ANTIQUITY   OF  MAN.  22; 

loam,  in  a  cave  near  Diisseldorf,  was  regarded  as 
of  a  low  type  bearing  some  resemblance  to  that 
of  an  ape.  Some  ardent  and  incautious  evolution- 
ists sought  to  identify  it  with  the  "  Missing  Link." 
But  Mr.  Darwin,  after  a  careful  examination,  pro- 
nounces it  "  very  well  developed  and  capacious," 
indeed,  not  far  below  the  average  European  skull. 
Virchow  considers  it  of  very  moderate  dimensions, 
but  unquestionably  a  human  skull.  And  Huxley 
bears  his  testimony  to  the  same  effect.  It  belonged, 
doubtless,  to  a  rude  savage — probably  a  representa- 
tive of  the  Rough  Stone  Age. 

At  Cro-Magnon,  in  the  south  of  France,  in 
1858,  in  a  "rock-shelter"  formed  by  a  broad,  over- 
hanging ledge  of  limestone  in  a  ravine,  were  dis- 
covered the  skeletons  of  three  men,  a  woman,  and 
a  child,  all  in  a  moderate  state  of  preservation. 
One  of  these  men,  now  familiarly  designated  as 
•'  the  old  man  of  Cro-Magnon,"  was  about  six  feet 
in  height,  superior  to  the  Neanderthal  man  in 
cranial  development,  but  bearing  such  close  re- 
semblance to  him  as  to  warrant  the  conclusion 
that  they  belonged  to    the   same  race. 

With  these  remains  were  found  spears  and 
arrow-heads  of  flint,  that  betray  some  advance- 
ment in  art,  being  well  shapen  and  comparatively 
smooth,  and  also  less  massive  than  those  belong- 
ing   to    the    crudest    age.     There   were    also    a    few 


228  THE   CREATION. 

ornaments  or  trinkets  of  shells  and  ivory.  These 
people  must  be  regarded  as  belonging  to  the  latter 
part  of  the  Paleolithic,  or  possibly  the  opening  of 
the  Neolithic  Age. 

Other  noted  caves  or  rock-shelters  are  found  at 
Aurignac  and  Mentone,  France;  at  Enghis,  Belgium, 
and  at  Torquay  and  Brixham,  England.  But  their 
revelations  are  much  the  same.  They  represent 
man  as  living  in  a  rude  condition,  and  fighting  his 
way  in  the  world,  against  wild  beasts,  including  the 
mammoth  and  hyena,  with  weapons  fashioned  usu- 
ally with  little  skill,  from  flint  and  other  refractory 
stones 

Other    evidences     of    the    antiquity   of  man    are 

found    in    shell-heaps,  the    refuse   of  feasts. 
The  ^ 

•'Kitchen-  Thcsc  have  been  more  carefully  studied 
in  Denmark  than  elsewhere,  and  are 
there  known  as  "  Kitchen-Middens."  Primitive  man 
seems  to  have  gathered  in  great  numbers  on  the 
sea-shore,  to  feast  on  the  oyster,  mussel,  and  peri- 
winkle, together  with  a  few  aquatic  birds  and  such 
fishes  as  might  be  taken  in  shallow  water,  and  to 
have    left    behind    these   indications  of  his   presence. 

Some  of  these  heaps  are  of  prodigious  size, 
considering  their  origin,  and  must  have  been  cen- 
turies in  accumulating.  Steenstrup  describes  them 
as   a   thousand   feet  long  and   ten   feet   high. 

The    fact     that     the     Kitchen-Middens     are     not 


ANTIQUITY   OF  MAN.  22g 

found  on  the  western  coast  of  Denmark,  where  the 
ocean  is  slowly  eating  away  the  land,  and  that 
they  are  found  sometimes  seven  or  eight  miles 
back  from  the  shore,  on  the  eastern  side,  where 
the  water  is  comparatively  quiet,  and  the  land  is 
slowly  building  out,  affords  some  indication  of  the 
length  of  time  since  they  were  made. 

And  the  additional  fact  that  the  oyster  has 
almost  disappeared  from  the  Baltic  Sea,  and  that 
the  cockle  and  periwinkle,  which  remain,  are  much 
smaller  than  those  whose  shells  are  heaped  upon 
the  shore,  implies  a  great  change  in  the  water  of 
that  part  of  the  sea.  It  is  less  salt  than  formerly  ; 
That  is  to  say,  the  adjoining  land  is  higher  and 
the  influx  of  fresh  water  greater.  And  still  there 
has  been  no  sudden  change  in  the  land  level  of 
that  portion  of  the  earth  in  recent  ages.  The 
change  was  slow,  and  hence  must  have  covered 
an  extended  period. 

Again,  in  the  Kite  hen- Middens  are  found  flint 
knives,  arrow-heads,  and  the  like,  both  rough  and 
polished,  but  nothing  of  metallic  nature.  They  are 
of  the    Stone  Age. 

In   the    same  country  are  the   famous   Skov7noses, 
or    Peat-beds,    which     afford    perhaps    the 
most    indisputable    of  all   evidence   of  the  „    '^^^ 

Peat-Mosses. 

great    antiquity    of  man.      These    beds    of 

moss    and    other    plants    which     have     changed     to 


230  THE    CREATION. 

peat,  occupy  depressions  in  the  general  level  some- 
times known  as  boulder-pits,  and  have  a  depth  in 
some  instances  of  thirty  feet.  The  age  of  the  peat- 
beds  has  been  estimated  at  four  to  five  thousand 
years,  but  competent  authorities  add  that  it  may 
be  four  times  as  great.  The  growth  of  peat  is  usu- 
ally very  slow,  but  it  sometimes  accumulates  with 
considerable  rapidity.  We  cannot  safely  judge, 
therefore,  of  the  age  of  a  bed  by  its  depth  or  ex- 
tent. 

We  have,  however,  in  the  Danish  peat-beds,  one 
indication   not  usually  met  with  in   such  formations. 

In  the  peat,  at  various  depths  below  the  sur- 
^     .,  ,         face,   are    prostrate    trunks    of    trees,    that 

Fossil  trees  '  ^  ' 

have  evidently  grown  upon  the  borders 
of  the  bog  and  fallen  in.  In  the  lower 
beds,  two  to  five  feet  from  the  bottom,  is  the 
Scotch  fir,  a  tree  not  now  found  indigenous  in  Den- 
mark, and  that  does  not  flourish  when  transplanted 
there.  Some  of  the  trunks  are  two  to  three  feet 
in  diameter,  and  their  number  indicates  that  they 
were  at   one  time  the  prevailing  forest  tree. 

Above  these,  and  still  at  a  considerable  depth 
below  the  surface,  are  trunks  of  oak,  of  still  greater 
size,  that  in  like  manner  must  have  grown  upon 
the  banks  and  fallen  into  the  bog.  This  tree  is 
scarcely   known  in  Denmark  now. 

At  a  still    higher  level  is  found   the  beech  which 


m 
the  peat. 


ANTIQUITY  OF  MAN.  23  I 

is  the    common    forest    tree    of  the    country  to-day. 
Changes   of  vegetation  imply   changes  of  climate. 

Here,  now,  are  three  classes  or  species  of  pre- 
vailing forest  trees,  implying  so  many  changes  of 
climate  or  other  physical  conditions.  Moreover,  it 
is  scarcely  conceivable  that  such  a  change  could 
have  been  effected  in  a  single  generation.  There 
were  probably  several  generations  of  each  kind  of 
trees.  Some  idea,  then,  may  be  formed  of  the  lapse 
of  time  since  the  peat-beds  began  to  accumulate. 
There  was  a  growth  of  Scotch  fir,  supplanted  at 
length  by  the  oak,  and  that  in  turn  by  the  beech. 
And  the  beech  not  only  occupied  the  ground  at 
the  time  of  the  Roman  invasion,  almost  two  thou- 
sand years  ago,  but  is  the  tree  of  Danish  tradition. 
In  other  words,  we  have  no  trace  either  in  history 
or  tradition  of  the  period  of  the  earlier  growths. 

But    what    bearing    have    these    facts    on     human 
history?      Just    this.      In    the    lower    beds  ^     . 

Fossil  imple- 

of  peat  are  found  implements  of  man's  mems 
workmanship — flint  arrows  —  under  the  ''^  ^^  pea  . 
trunks  of  fir,  in  such  position  as  they  could  not 
have  reached  by  simply  working  their  way  down- 
ward through  the  moss,  as  pointed  implements 
may  sometimes  do.  These  arrows  were  lost  in  the 
bog  while  the  Scotch  fir  was  growing  on  the  bank. 
Man  must,  therefore,  have  inhabited  the  country  at 
the   time.     In    higher   layers   of   the    peat  are    found 


232  THE   CREATION. 

Other  implements,  both  bronze  and  iron,  which 
mark  the  different  periods  into  which  the  age  of 
man   is  divided. 

Quatrefages  states  that  the  Scotch  fir  in  the 
peat-beds  may  be  regarded  as  corresponding  to  the 
Stone  Age,  the  oak  to  the  Bronze,  and  the  beech 
to  the  Iron.  But  this  statement  must  be  taken 
wdth  some   allowance. 

Once   more   in   the   same  line    of  evidence.     The 

fishermen  of  Neuchatel  and  other  parts  of 
The  ^ 

Swiss  Lake-  Switzerland  had  long  been  annoyed  by  a 
ings.  jyjysterious  entangling  and  breaking  of 
their  nets  by  obstructions,  at  the  bottom  of  the 
lakes,  that    could    not    be    discerned. 

The  draining  of  a  portion  of  one  of  the  lakes, 
in  the  winter  of  1854,  brought  to  light  a  number 
of  piles  or  posts  driven  into  the  mud,  which  had 
evidently  been  shapen  for  the  purpose  and  placed 
there  by  human  hands.  About  these  timbers,  at 
various  depths  below  the  surface,  were  found  stone 
implements,  both  rough  and  polished,  together  with 
pieces  of  rude  pottery  shaped  by  hand,  but  without 
the  aid  of  the  wheel,  and  known  thence  to  antedate 
the  Roman  period. 

Further  examination  revealed  the  fact  that  these 
piles  had  sometime  served  the  purpose  of  founda- 
tions for  human  habitations,  built  out  over  the 
lake,   and   connected  with   the   shore    in  some   cases, 


ANTIQUITY   OF  MAN.  233 

by  a  sort  of  causeway.  This  discovery  stimulatec 
exploration,  and  it  now  appears  that  such  dwell- 
ings were  once  common  in  Switzerland.  And  the 
farther  discovery  of  the  bones  of  animals,  both  ex- 
tinct and  recent,  wild  and  domesticated,  also  of 
canoes  and  fishing  tackle,  and*  in  western  Switzer- 
land of  bronze  as  well  as  stone  implements,  indi- 
cates that  the  existence  of  the  lake-dwellers  cov- 
ered an  extended  period  of  time,  and  that  from  first 
to  last,  considerable  advances  were  made  in  the 
arts  of  civilization.  They  built  their  houses  in 
these  novel  positions  for  safety  against  the  incur- 
sions of  savage  neighbors.  Oftener  than  otherwise 
there  seems  to  have  been  no  direct  communica- 
tion with  the  shore,  except  by  boat,  or  possibly 
by  drawbridge,   of  which  no  traces  now  remain. 

Herodotus  describes  such  dwellings  in  Thrace 
twenty-five  hundred  years  ago.  Remains  of  such 
have  been  found  in  some  of  the  boggy  lakes  of 
Ireland  ;  and  similar  buildings  are  found  to-day  in 
some  of  the  islands  of  the  South  Pacific.  The 
earlier  lake  dwellings  of  Switzerland  must  be  as- 
signed to  the  Stone  Age,  and  the  later  to  the  Age 
of  Bronze. 

These     evidences,    the     lake -dwellings,    Value  of  the 

evidence. 

the  kitchen-middens,    peat-bogs,  and  cave- 
deposits    tell    one    story — that    man    existed    on    the 
earth  far   back  of  the    historic    period.     But,   it  will 


234  THE    CREATION. 

be  observed,   we  have  not  in  any  of   them  the  data 
for  definite   calculations   in  years. 

Suppose  we  admit  that  they  fully  justify  the 
usual  division  of  the  human  period  into  the  sev- 
eral ages  designated  as  Stone,  Bronze,  and  Iron, 
we  have  no  clue,  in  this  fact,  to  the  length  of  time 
required  for  man  to  pass  through  any  one  of  them. 
Suppose  we  find,  in  the  middle  layers  of  peat, 
trunks  of  oak  trees  three  hundred  or  five  hundred 
years  old  ;  we  do  not  know  whether  the  period  of 
the  oak  covered  one  generation  or  many. 

What,  then,  is  gained  by  the  examination  of 
such  evidence  ? 

Just  this.  It  serves  to  establish  the  fact  of 
man's  remote  origin  ;  not  to  measure  the  period  of 
man's  occupancy  of  the  earth  in  years,  or  even  in 
centuries,  but  only  to  show  it  to  be  far  beyond 
that  formerly    assigned. 

We  have  means,  however,  for  an  approximate 
estimate. 

Let   us   now   compare    the  periods  of  the  human 
era,  or  the  Age  of  Man,  with  the  periods 

Quaternary 

and  human  of  the  Quaternary  formation  in  geological 
periods.  i^jg^Qj.y.  bearing  it  in  mind,  as  before 
stated,  that  there  is  no  necessary  correspondence 
between  them.  The  two  relate  to  different  sub- 
jects ;  nevertheless  they  are  intimately  related  to 
each    other. 


ANTIQUITY  OF  MAN.  235 

If  the  remains  of  man  and  those  of  particular 
animals  are  found  together  in  any  considerable 
quantities,  and  especially  in  several  different  locali- 
ties, it  is  reasonable  to  presume  that  such  men 
and  animals  inhabited  the  earth  at  the  same  time. 
There  may  be  an  exceptional  case,  now  and  then, 
where  remains  from  widely  different  periods  have 
become  accidentally  mingled  ;  but  such  cases  must 
be    rare. 

We  have  found,  with  the  earliest  relics  of  man's 

workmanship,    the    remains    of    the    mam- 
Man  and 
moth,  and  one  or  two   other  animals  lone         the 

since    extinct.      We   have    also    found    the    ^^^"'■^°^^- 

mammoth    and    its    brute  companions  to    have  lived 

in    the    Glacial   period.      But    because  man   and    the 

mammoth    were     at    one    time    together    upon     the 

earth,     it    does    not    of   necessity    follow    that    their 

advent    was    contemporaneous.     The    appearance    of 

the    mammoth    may    have    long    preceded    that    of 

man,     as     man    has     certainly    long     survived     the 

mammoth. 

Fossils  of  this  huge  animal  clearly  indicate  that 
some  species  lived  before  and  during  the  Glacial 
period;  but  it  was  only  after  it  had  passed  its 
meridian  that  man  appears  to  have  disputed  its 
sovereignty   of  the  earth. 

A  careful  examination  of  the  whole  subject 
leads   us    to    the   conclusion,    that    man    appeared    in 


236  THE    CREATION. 

Europe    during   the    latter  part    of    tJie    Glacial  pe- 
riod;    or    certainly    not    earlier    than    that 

Man  .  ^       .  . 

post-glacial,  period  of  partial  recession  of  the  ice, 
sometimes  designated  as  the  Interglacial 
epoch. 

It  is  possible  that  explorations  in  the  tropics 
may  yet  set  the  mark  farther  back,  but  there  is 
no  evidence  in  Europe  or  America  that  warrants  a 
remoter   date. 

Such  are  the  conclusions — so  far,  at  least,  as 
Europe  is  concerned — of  the  Anthropological  Soci- 
ety of  London,  according  to  the  Report  for  1878. 
And  Prof.  Huxley,  in  his  address  before  the  Brit- 
ish Association,  at  Dublin,  in  the  same  year, 
reaches   substantially    the   same    conclusion. 

We  are  well  aware  that  some  archaeologists 
claim   a  higrher  antiquity  for  the  race,  but 

Claims  ^  . 

of  higher  an-  on  grounds  that  seem  to  us  inconclusive; 
^^^^  ^*  such  as  the  occurrence  of  bones  consid- 
ered human  in  Tertiary  deposits ;  marks  of  sharp 
instruments  upon  the  bones  of  animals  used  for 
food,  with  the  presence  of  sharp  flints  and  charred 
wood    in    the    same  deposits. 

With    reference  to    these    it    must   be  said  : 
I.  Bones   found   in   the   Ohio  valley,   in  the  early 
part    of    the    present    century,    and    confidently    pro- 
nounced  human,   were,    on   examination    by  compe- 
tent authority,  found  to  belong  to  the  frame  of  one 


ANTIQUITY  OF  MAN.  237 

of  the  large  quadrupeds.  And  several  such  mis- 
takes have  been  made,  even  by  men  of  science,  in 
the    past    two   hundred   years. 

2.  Markings  on  bones,  resembling  those  made 
by  sharp  instruments,  may  have  been  produced  by 
the    teeth  of  animals   that    fed  upon    the  remains. 

3.  Many  sharp  fragments  of  flint,  hastily  pro- 
nounced the  result  of  human  workmanship,  have 
been  found  to  be  natural  fragments,  and  may  be 
matched  along  the  chalk  beaches  of  England  and 
elsewhere  where  flint    abounds. 

4.  Human  bones  and  flint  implements  have,  in 
some  cases,  been  accidentally  and  confusedly  min- 
gled   with   deposits  of  an    earlier    date. 

5.  The  presence  of  charred  wood  is  not  always 
a  positive  evidence  of  the  presence  of  man.  No 
other  animal  uses  fire,  but  lightning  played  its 
hazardous  freaks  long  before  man  existed  on  the 
earth,  and  spontaneous  combustion  was  a  possi- 
bility of  former  as  it  is  of  recent    times. 

A  skull  is  reported  to  have  been  found  in 
volcanic     breccia     of     the     Tertiary     Aa;e 

•'  ^  The 

(Pliocene     period),     in     Calaveras     County,     California 
California,      associated     with     gold-bearing 
gravel.     But    it    is   now    deemed  quite  probable  that 
the     auriferous    gravels,  or    gold-drift,    of    California, 
belong   wholly  to  the    Quaternary   Age.     And    Prof. 
LeConte    regards    the    later    lava    deposits    also    as 


238  THE   CREATION. 

Quaternary,  perhaps  as  late  as  the  Champlain 
period. 

Moreover,  that  Calaveras  discovery  has  a  secret 
history  not  inaptly  travestied  in  Bret  Harte's  "  So- 
ciety upon  the  Stanislaus."  The  skull  was  not 
seen  in  situ  by  any  scientist,  and  any  theory 
based  upon  that  as  a  "pliocene  skull"  must  be 
taken   at   great   hazard. 

Then,  as  to  the  testimony  of  cave-deposits,  peat- 
beds,    and    the    like,    of    which    we     have 

Summing 

"pthe        already    spoken    in   some    detail. 

evidence.  ,     ,       ,  r      1  •  c 

The  gravel  beds  of  the  river  Somms 
have  been  marked  as  of  very  ancient  date.  But 
the  fact  that  the  Somme  has  cut  its  way  through 
the  glacial  drift  into  the  chalk  or  Cretaceous  rocks, 
and  that  these  ancient  gravels  lie  on  the  slopes  of 
the  chalk,  proves  conclusively  that  the  cutting  has 
been  done  since  the  drift  was  deposited,  and,  there- 
fore, since  the  close  of  the  Glacial  period.  The 
shell-heaps  certainly  cannot  be  assigned  an  earlier 
date,  for  had  they  existed  before,  they  would  have 
been  inevitably  crushed  and  swept  away  by  the 
movement  of  the  ice. 

And  whatever  age  may  be  assigned  to  the 
Danish  peat-beds,  they  occupy  cavities  or  depres- 
sions in  the  surface,  believed  to  have  been  scooped 
out  by  the  action  of  the  glaciers,  and  must  hence 
have    accumulated    since    the    glaciers  passed  away. 


ANTIQUITY  OF  MAN.  239 

The  Swiss  lake-dwellings  are  variously  esti- 
mated at  from  thirty-three  hundred  to  six  thou- 
sand years  old  ;  and  few  authorities  would  venture 
to   assign    to  the    glaciers    a    date    so    recent. 

In  certain  caves  human  remains  have  been 
found  beneath  stalagmitic  crusts  three  to  five  feet 
in  aggregate  depth  ;  and  in  one  case  that  has  been 
carefully  observed,  the  rate  of  accumulation  is  said 
not  to  exceed  one  sixteenth  of  an  inch  in  a  cen- 
tury. At  this  rate  a  deposit  of  five  feet  would  re- 
quire the  enormous  period  of  ninety-six  thousand 
years.  But  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  rate  of 
accumulation  has  been  uniform.  And  the  fact  that 
in  a  cave  at  Gibraltar,  eighteen  inches  of  stalag- 
mite has  been  shown  to  have  accumulated  in  less 
than  six  hundred  years,  and  that  according  to  Prof. 
Winchell,  stalactites  sometimes  grow  in  the  lead 
caves  of  the  West,  at  the  rate  of  one  foot  in  a  sin- 
gle year,  shows  the  utterly  unreliable  character  of 
all  estimates  based  on  the  rate  of  progress  of  such 
formations.  And  yet  on  some  such  precarious 
evidences  are  all  the  arguments  for  the  pre-glacial 
existence  of  man  based.  We  submit,  that  they  are 
not   reliable,    satisfactory,   or   conclusive. 

The  question,  then,  as  to  the  date  of  man's 
advent  turns  upon  the  date  of  the  disappearance 
of  the  glaciers  from  the  middle  and  lower  lati- 
tudes. 


240  THE   CREATION. 

As  the  glaciers  that  once  overspread  Europe  as 
,^    ,     ,    .      far    south    as    the    Pyrenees    and    ItaHan 

Man  s  relation  -^ 

to  Alps,     withdrew    toward     the    north,    by 

the  glaciers,  _     ,  r         •  1  •  r   1 

reason  of  the  softening  climate,  man  fol- 
lowed ;  perhaps  not  close  upon  their  brink,  but  not 
far  behind.  His  companions  were  the  cave-bear 
and  the  mammoth,  and  later  the  reindeer  and  the 
dog.  The  mammoth  and  his  brute  companions 
have  long  since  disappeared  ;  not  a  single  specimen 
having  lived,  so  far  as  we  have  any  evidence,  with- 
in the  historic  period.  We  know  of  them  only  by 
their  fossil  remains.  The  reindeer  is  not  extinct, 
but  has  migrated  from  the  middle  latitudes,  fol- 
lowing close  upon  the  retreating  glacier,  and  is 
found   now  only  in  Arctic   regions. 

Arrived  at  this  conclusion  the  question  changes 
form. 

Hozv  long  since  tJie   Glacial  period? 

Some   attempt  has   been   made  to  esti- 
of  Glacial     mate  the   time    by    the    rate   of  river    ero- 
sions, which  we  have  already  found  to  be 
variable,  and  not,  therefore,  wholly  reliable. 

For  instance,  it  is  evident  that  the  Niagara 
River  has  cut  its  present  channel  since  the  close 
of  the  Glacial  period,  for  the  old  channel,  filled 
with  glacial  drift,  may  still  be  discerned,  leading 
from  near  the  whirlpool,  to  a  point  on  the  lake 
several    miles    west    of  the    present    river-mouth. 


ANTIQUITY  OF  MAN.  24 1 

The  rate  of  recession  of  the  falls  has  been  vari- 
ously estimated   at    from  one    inch  to  one 

Recession 

foot    per   annum.       By  the  latter  estimate    of  Niagara 
the    channel,    now    six    miles    long,  would 
be    carved    out    in   thirty-one    thousand    years.     Ac- 
cording to    the  former,  it    would  require    three  hun- 
dred and  eighty  thousand.     This  gives  a  wide  range 
for  differences  of  opinion. 

Other  estimates  have  been  based  upon  the  ac- 
cumulation of  deposits  in  some  of  the  Swiss  lakes 
and  erosion  of  river  beds,  since  the  disappearance 
of  the  glaciers  from  the  lowlands  of  Switzerland. 
But  the  figures  range  from  eight  thousand  to  one 
hundred  thousand  years.  And  M.  Quatrefages, 
who  quotes  these  estimates,  blandly  suggests  that 
the  truth  doubtless  lies  between  these  two  ex- 
tremes. We  reach  no  safe  conclusions  from  such 
data.     They  may  indicate  more  or  less. 

We  shall  find  the  most  satisfactory  estimates  to 
be  based  upon  astronomical   science.     The 

Evidence 

relations    of    the    earth    and    sun    undergo        from 
periodic    changes,    due    to    the   precession    ^^^'■°''°"^>'- 
of  the  equinoxes   and  variations   in  the   eccentricity 
of  the    earth's   orbit. 

According  to  Prof  Croll,  of  Scotland,  there  was, 
about  eighty  thousand  years  ago,  a  period  of  in- 
tense cold,  when  a  great  part  of  the  northern 
hemisphere  was    shrouded  in   ice.     This  was  the  era 


242  THE    CREATION. 

known  in  Geology  as  the  Glacial  period.*  And 
this  gives  us  the  most  definite  clue  to  the  an- 
tiquity of  man.  If  we  suppose  the  glaciers  to 
have  been  at  their  height  eighty  thousand  years 
ago,  the  date  of  their  disappearance  must  have 
been  some  thousands  of  years  later,  for  great 
depths  of  ice  do  not  fade  away  in  a  night,  nor,  if 
we  may  trust  recent  observation,  in  many  centuries. 

But    we    are    content    to    leave    the    matter    here. 

Man  may  have  been  upon  the  earth,  if  the  as- 
sumed data  of  the  glaciers  is  correct, 
^oTman.^  sixty  or  seventy  thousand  years.  But 
there  is  no  sufficient  evidence  that  he 
lived  before  the  ice  cap  had  receded  from  the 
region    in    which   his   earliest    remains  are   found. 

■^  We  have  purposely  avoided  all  reference  to  any  other  than 
the  one  ice  period.  There  may  have  been  many  in  the  course  of 
the  earth's  history  ;  but  it  is  with  the  last  only  that  we  have  to  do. 


XII 


Remains  of  Ancient 


Civilization. 


''  Behold  !  what  works  were  these  in  times  of  old  ? " 

"  A  nation  departing,  leaves  this  trace  behind. 

''  I  wandered  by  a  goodly  town 
Beset  with  many  a  garden  fair, 
And  asked  of  one  who  gathered  down 
Large  fruits,  how  long  the  town  was  there.  * 

He  spoke,  nor  chose  his  hand  to  stay  ; 
'  The  town  has  stood  for  many  a  day, 
And  will  be  here  forever  and  aye.'  " 

"  Some  thousand  years  went  by,  and  then 
I  saw  the  self-same  place  again. 
And  lo  !  a  country  wild  and  rude  ; 
And,  axe  in  hand,  beside  a  tree, 
The  hermit  of  that  solitude, 
I  asked  how  old  the  wood  might  be. 
He  said,  '  I  count  not  time  at  all  ; 
A  tree  may  rise,  a  tree  may  fall, 
The  forest  overlives  us  all.' " 

— Arabian  Tales. 


XII. 


REMAINS   OF    ANCIENT   CIVILIZATION    IN 
NORTH   AMERICA. 

When,    on    an    October    morning    in     1492,    an 
adventurous   mariner   looked  out  from  his     ^. 

Discovery 

gallant  little  ship,  upon  the  shores  of  of 
this  western  world,  he  supposed  it  to  be 
none  other  than  the  eastern  border  of  the  older 
continent.  And  the  people  he  called  Indians,  be- 
cause he  supposed  them  to  be  one  with  the  in- 
habitants with  which  Europe  had  been  long  famil- 
iar in  Southern  Asia.  But  when,  nineteen  years 
later,  Balboa,  looking  from  the  heights  of  the 
Isthmus  of  Darien,  discovered  a  vast  ocean  ex- 
tending far  to  the  north  and  the  south  and  the 
west,  it  first  became  apparent  that  America  was  a 
separate  continent.  And  the  people,  on  further  in- 
vestigation, were  pronounced  a  distinct  race  or  di- 
vision  of  the    human    family. 

This    at    once    raised    the    question    whence    they 
came? 


246  THE   CREATION. 

The  generally  received  opinion  that  the  human 
family  descended  from  a  single  pair,  found  a  new 
complication  in  this  people,  so  far  separated  by 
wide  reaches  of  ocean  from  the  home  of  the  in- 
fant   race. 

Of   the    various     theories    advanced,    that    their 
wh  progenitors   had    crossed    Behring's  Straits 

came  the      from    the    dreary    regions    of    Siberia,    in 

Indian  ?  -  _  .    ,       , .  ,  , 

search  of  a  more  genial  chme  ;  that  they 
had  drifted  unwittingly  in  Chinese  junks  upon  this 
fair  land;  that  they  were  degenerate  offspring  of 
the  Norsemen,  who,  centuries  before,  peopled  the 
shores  of  Greenland,  none  were  entirely  satisfac- 
tory, for  neither  of  them  was  capable  of  proof. 
Moreover,  it  afterward  appeared  that  the  Indian  in 
different  sections  of  America  corresponded  to  the 
real  or  fancied  types  of  nearly  all  the  races,  so 
that   all   the   theories  practically  failed. 

It  is  not  our  purpose  now  to  inquire  which  of 
these  theories  is  most  plausible,  nor  to  attempt  to 
settle  the  question  as  to  how  long  a  time  the 
Indian  occupied  the  soil  of  America  before  the 
voyage  of  the   valiant   Genoese   in   1492. 

For  while  perplexed  with  this  problem  we  en- 
counter another  still  more  mysterious  and  remote, 
and  having  in  it,  therefore,  more  of  curious  interest, 
if  not  the  promise  of  more  satisfactory  results. 

It  concerns  a  race  that    perished   here   when    the 


REMAINS  OF  ANCIENT   CIVILIZATICN.         247 

Indian     came,     or    possibly    long     before.       A     race 
whose   mysterious  footprints    are  not  hard 
to    trace     or     difficult     of     interpretation.         ^^^^^ 
And    yet    a    race    that    long    baffled    con- 
jecture   and    almost    defied    investigation.     But    we 
have   one  or  two   clues  with   which  to  begin. 

The  favorite  method  of  preserving  the  memory 
of    great    men    and    great    events,    in    all 

,.  1  1  ,  r.  ,         Monumental 

times,  has  been  by  means  01  monuments.  records 
And  the  mightiest  structures  of  the 
world  are  those  erected  in  memory  of  the  dead,  or 
of  events  in  which  human  lives  were  given  as  the 
price  of  conquest  or  victory.  Homer  recognizes 
this  general  truth,  when  in  his  stately  verse  he 
makes  the   valiant  Trojan  say  of  his  heroic  enemy, 

"  The  long-haired  Greek 
To  him  upon  the  shores  of  Hellespont, 
A  mound  shall  heap  !  that  those  in  after  times 
Who  sail  along  the  darksome  sea  shall  say, 
This  is  the  monument  of  one  long  since 
Borne  to  his  grave,  by  mighty  Hector  slain." 

The  pyramids  of  Egypt  were  long  considered 
but  kingly  monuments  ;  and  if,  as  now  appears, 
they  were  built  for  other  uses  also,  we  can  only 
say  they  served  a  double  purpose,  whereof  the 
former  was  not  the  least.  The  practice  of  building 
monuments  obtained  among  the  early  peoples  of 
America    no    less    than  with    those    who    built    the 


248  THE    CREATION. 

pyramids,  and  the  custom  survives  in  various 
forms   to-day. 

Then,  aside  from  mere  memorial  structures,  the 
more  lasting  and  distinctive  works  of  every  people 
and  every  age  become  in  a  sense  monumental, 
preserving  as  they  do  whatever  is  peculiar  in  the 
life  and  customs  of  the  times  they  represent.  He- 
rodotus assumes  a  new  significance  in  the  light  of 
Clark's  explorations  of  the  tumuli  of  Scythia. 
And  the  romance  of  Egyptian  history  becomes 
reality  as  we  thread  the  corridors  of  the  labyrinth 
and  explore  the  recesses   of  the  pyramids. 

And  in  Great  Britain,  within  the  historic 
period,  the  early  diffusion  of  Celts  and  Saxons, 
the  intrusions  of  the  Danes,  the  incursions  of  the 
Romans,  and  the  visits  of  Phoenician  traders,  are 
each  and  all  indicated  to  the  educated  eye,  by 
walls  and  roads  and  heaps  of  stones,  which  to  the 
unlettered   vision  may  have  no   significance. 

So,  in  America,  the  histories  of  the  earlier  ages 
are,  alas,  unwritten,  save  as  they  may  be  deci- 
phered in  fragments  of  roads  and  gardens,  in 
crumbling  walls  and  mounds,  and  decaying  ruins 
of  more   elaborate  architecture. 

Long  before  the  Indians  of  the  present  day, 
there  lived,  in  the  interior  of  North  America,  a  race 
of  men  who  disappeared  centuries  ago,  leaving  no 
trace  of  history  or  even  a  name  behind.     From  the 


REMAINS   OF  ANCIENT   CIVILIZATION.  249 

western  slope  of  the  Alleghanies,  through  the  Ohio 
valley,  and  even  beyond  the  Mississippi,  in  rarer  in- 
stances, are  found  the  footprints  of  this  mysterious 
race. 

Their    monuments — for    so,    for    convenience,  we 
shall  call  the  relics  of  their  life — take  gen- 
erally the  form    of   mounds.     There    is  no     American 

•^  antiquities. 

such    thincT    as    shaft     or    obelisk     amono; 
them.      It    may  be    these    people    had    not  the  skill 
"to  hew  the  shaft  or  lay  the  architrave;"   but  it  is 
probable,  also,   that    these    forms    would     not     have 
served    their    intended   purposes. 

Careful    observation    enables    us    to    divide    these 
structures  into  three  creneral    classes,  each 

^  '  Classes 

having     reference    to    some    specific    use  :  of 

the    first    for   war    or    defence,    the    second       ^^o^-s. 
for  sacrifice  or  worship,  and  the  third  for  the  burial 
of  the  dead. 

We  present  a  few  examples  of  the  first  class. 

On  the  bank  of  a  small  stream  near  Chillicothe, 
Ohio,  the  summit   of  a  hi^h   hill    is  occu-     _  ,     . 

Defensive 

pied   by   an    irregular    work    of    earth    and       works 

,  r  -^^11  IT  in  Ohio. 

stone  01  great  extent,  closely  resemblmg 
the  breastworks  used  in  modern  warfare.  Its  con- 
struction indicates  that  it  was  intended  for  defence, 
while  its  situation  on  the  brow  or  summit  of  a  hill, 
flanked  by  a  running  stream,  peculiarly  adapted  it  for 
such  purpose.     It    is  not  a  wall    in  the    strict   sense 


250  THE    CREATION. 

of  the  term,  but  a  line  of  stones  heaped  some- 
what indiscriminately  together,  extending  around 
the  hill  a  little  below  the  brow,  and  rising  above 
the  general  level  at  the  more  exposed  points.  It 
shows  forecast  and  calculation  much  beyond  the 
habit  of  the  modern  Indian,  and,  moreover,  indi- 
cates an  incredible  amount  of  toilsome  labor,  to 
which  our  Indians  are    specially  averse. 

It  is  unreasonable  to  suppose  this  work  was  un- 
dertaken for  other  purposes  than  warfare  or  defence  ; 
first,  because  of  the  position  chosen,  inconvenient 
for  any  other  use  ;  and  second,  because  of  its  im- 
mense strength  as  originally  constructed,  and  the 
evident  intention  in  making  most  secure  the  parts 
most  liable  to  attack  and  most    difficult  to  defend. 

That  this  line  of  fortifications  has  lost  its  shape, 
on  the  more  abrupt  side  of  the  hill,  is  a  natural 
result  of  the  encroachments  of  time;  and  that  other 
parts  are  so  lost  in  debris  as  to  be  passed  over 
without  observation,  is  by  no  means  strange  when 
we  consider  the  probable  lapse  of  time  since  it  was 
constructed.  But  within  a  very  few  years,  the  en- 
tire line  could  be  almost  as  distinctly  traced  by  a 
little  patient  examination  of  the  field,  as  the  lines 
that  engirt  the  cities  of  Richmond  and  Petersburg 
to-day.  This  particular  enclosure  covers  an  area  of 
more  than  a  hundred  acres,  and  may  hence  have 
served  as  the  refuge  or  rendezvous  of  a  large   tribe. 


REMAINS   OF  ANCIENT   CIVIIIZATION.  25  I 

It  is  even  conjectured  that  they  cultivated  iields  for 
sustenance  within  the  enclosure,  but  that  could  not 
long  have  yielded  support  for  any  considerable 
number. 

A  similar  enclosure  at  Marietta  is  described  as 
having  the  additional  convenience  of  a  covered  way 
or  passage  between  parallel  walls,  leading  to  the 
Muskingum  River  near  by,  that  the  inmates,  in 
case  of  siege,  might  supply  themselves  with  water. 
There  are  other  enclosures  in  Ohio  covering  a  much 
larger  extent,  and  one  on  the  Missouri  River,  of  not 
less  than  five  hundred  acres,  which  was  also  pro- 
vided with  a  passage-way  leading  to  the  river. 

On  the  Miami  River,  near  Hamilton,  Ohio,  is 
one  of  these  works — evidently  a  fortification — more 
perfect  in  outline  and  complete  in  form,  but  of  less 
size  than  that  described  near  Chillicothe.  It  has 
four  discernible  entrances  or  gateways,  the  princi- 
pal one  of  which  is  protected  by  a  short  curved 
parapet  of  similar  construction.  The  chief  entrance 
to  one  of  these  enclosures,  in  Butler  County,  is  de- 
fended by  a  series  of  curved  parapets,  both  within 
and  without.  These  structures  are  simple  earth- 
works, save  where  stone  was  abundant,  where  irreg- 
ular blocks  and  boulders  were  heaped  somewhat 
rudely  together  without  mortar,  and  were  therefore 
easily  displaced. 

In  a  few  instances,  toward  the   Gulf   of   Mexico, 


252  THE    CREATION. 

they  had  sometimes  a  facing  of  sun-dried  brick 
(adobe),  on  which  the  print  of  human  fingers  may 
still  be  traced.  And  to  the  defensive  works  so  con- 
structed was  often  added  a  foss  or  ditch,  sometimes 
without,  but  oftener  within,  the  wall.  Many  of  these 
works  are  built  with  considerable  mathematical  pre- 
cision ;  the  usual  form  being  the  square,  the  circle, 
or  the  ellipse.  Occasionally,  as  in  Pike  County, 
Ohio,  there  is  a  square  within  a  circle,  though  it  is 
by  no  means  certain  that  these  were  intended  for 
purposes  of  defence.  When  a  tribe  or  nation  is 
driven  to  the  adoption  of  expedients  against  an 
actual  or  prospective  foe,  immediate  utility  counts 
for  more  than  precision  in  form  or  minuteness  ox 
detail.  Still,  the  general  character  of  the  works  is 
the  same  as  those  before  described. 

Another    class    of    structures    closely    associated 
with   the   foreo-oinc^     and    belona-ins:  essen- 

Mounds  t>         JD'  t>      & 

of  tially  with  the   defensive    works,  are  called 

"  Mounds  of  Observation,"  or  .alarm  posts. 
They  are  small  at  the  base  and  higher  in  propor- 
tion, and  are  found  especially  in  open  or  level  coun- 
tries, or  on  elevated  points  adjoining  towns  or  for- 
tified positions.  They  may  have  been  rendered 
necessary  by  the  inimical  relations  which  always 
subsist  between  different  tribes,  even  when  partially 
civilized,  or  may  have  served  as  a  means  of  safety 
against   a    common    foe.     They  were   used    probably 


REMAINS   OF  ANCIENT   CIVILIZATION.  253 

both  to  give  notice  of  approaching  danger,  and  for 
conveying  tidings  rapidly  to  remote  points  by 
means    of  signals. 

Similar  methods    are    now    employed    by  the    In- 
dians    to     convey    tidings    from     point    to 
point,  though  they  avail  themselves  either       ^^^^^"^ 

signals. 

ol    the    open    plain,    or    of   slight    natural 
elevations,  instead  of  erecting   mounds  at  great  cost 
of  labor. 

Once  when  travelling  at  night  in  Western  Utah, 
we  observed,  at  intervals,  fire  signals  made  from  vil- 
lage to  village  along  our  line  of  travel.  A  bright 
blaze  suddenly  started  up,  and  as  suddenly  disap- 
peared, like  the  will  o'  the  wisp,  as  if  some  tinder- 
like material  had  been  kindled  and  immediately 
smothered,  and  could  therefore  be  easily  distin- 
guished from  the  light  of  the  wigwam  or  the  camp- 
fire  of  the  emigrant.  This  signal  appearing  at  one 
point  was  repeated  at  another,  and  then  another, 
and  so   on. 

The    second    general    class    of  these    works    have 
been   styled   Sacred  enclosures,  from    their 
apparent  use.     They  are  regular  in  shape,        '^^"^^'^ 

.  enclosures. 

formmg    almost  a  circle,  with    an    opening 
at    one    side,    or    sometimes    very    like    a    horseshoe, 
with  a  small   mound  in   the  centre,  which  may  have 
served    for   sacrificial    purposes.     Unlike    the    former 
class    in  situation,  they  are  found  on  a  plain,  some- 


254  THE    CREATION. 

times  in  a  valley,  quite  indefensible,  and  therefore 
utterly  unfit  for  the  uses  of  war.  These  have  been 
thought  to  resemble  the  ''ring  forts"  of  the  Dru- 
ids, or  ancient  Celtic  priests,  which  Caesar  found  in 
Briton,  and  which  w^ere  their  places  of  augury  and 
sacrifice. 

Indeed,    it    is    claimed    that    the    resemblance    of 
all    these   works,    sacred  and  defensive,    to 

Compared 

to  some    of    the    fortifications    of   Europe    in 

uiopean.  ^.^^^^1-^  ages,  and  the  sacrificial  enclosures 
of  the  ancient  Celts,  is  so  close  as  to  indicate  that 
they  are  the  work  of  the  same  people.  But  this 
resemblance  is  probably  purely  accidental,  or  due  to 
the  fact  that  they  served  like  uses  in  the  two  cases. 
Especially  in  the  case  of  defensive  works,  similar  po- 
sitions would  naturally  be  selected.  A  valley  with 
surrounding  hills  would  not  be  chosen  for  a  forti- 
fication, because  of  the  difficulty  of  defending  it ; 
nor  a  high  hill  far  from  running  streams,  because 
of  the  difficulty  of  supplying  it  with  water.  And 
these  simple  facts  would  suggest  themselves  to  any 
intelligent  people,  whether  in  one  age  and  country 
or  another.  These  considerations,  therefore,  aflford 
no  evidence  that  the  people  of  Europe  and  those 
of  ancient  America  had  any  knowledge  of  or  re- 
lation   to   one   another. 

This    explanation    of   the    general    form    of    their 
sacred     enclosures    has     been    suggested :    that    the 


REMAINS   OF  ANCIENT   CIVILIZATION.  255 

people  were  worshippers  of  the  sun,  and   there  may 
have  been  some  supposed    virtue    in    con- 

,  1-111  -1  J.       Sun-worship- 

forming    their    holy    places,    in    shape,     to  p^^s. 

that    of  the  great    luminary    whence    they 
supposed    all     life     to     flow.       But     this    is    almost 
purely  conjectural.     They  may  have    been    sun-wor- 
shippers.    The  other  inference  does    not    necessarily 
follow. 

Little  as  these  works  are  known  to  Americans 
generally,  they  are  as  extensive,  at  one  or  two 
points — as  at  Newark,  Ohio, — as  those  of  Stone- 
henge  or  Carnac,  which  are  among  the  most  mys- 
terious wonders  of  England  and  France  to-day. 
Built  generally  of  earth,  however,  they  have  been 
almost  obliterated  by  the  ravages  of  time,  or  buried 
beneath  the  accretions  of  overlying  soils  ;  great 
forests,  the  growth  of  centuries  in  many  cases, 
covering  the  ground   they  occupied. 

Before  completing  the  description  of  the  works, 
intended  for  religious  uses,  we  turn  to  notice  an- 
other class,  between  which  and  the  sacred  works 
it  is   not  always   easy  to   distinguish. 

These   are    the    SepidcJiral  mounds,    in    some    re- 
spects   the    most    important    of    all    these 
Sepulchral    ancient     structures,    and    the    ones     from 

mounds. 

which  the  *' mound-builder"  really  takes 
his  name  ;  though  the  enclosures  give  us  more  of 
an   insight   into  his   mode  of  life. 


256  THE    CREATION. 

And  here  we  shall  find  it  necessary  to  make 
a  careful  distinction  between  the  ''  mound-builders" 
and  the  race  that  came  after;  a  distinction  too 
often  disregarded   in   discussing   this   subject. 

On  the  borders  of  Ossipee  Lake,  New  Hamp- 
shire,  near  St.  Regis  on  the  St.  Lawrence 

mounds.  ^^^^^'  ^^"^  ^^^  isl^"^  of  Tonawanda  in 
Niagara  River,  and  at  various  points  in 
the  middle  and  sea-board  States,  are  heaps  of  earth 
a  few  feet  in  height  and  a  few  rods  in  extent, 
small  conical  or  truncated  hillocks  which  are  popu- 
larly known  as  "  Indian  mounds."  They  are  arti- 
ficial structures,  though  at  a  little  distance  easily 
mistaken  for  natural  formations  ;  and  on  examina- 
tion are  found  to  contain  human  remains,  whence 
they  are  known  to  have  been  burial-places  of  the 
Indians.  Sometimes  there  is  an  enclosure  of  earth- 
work containing  several  places  of  sepulture.  One 
of  these,  a  few  miles  east  of  Buffalo,  is  said  to  con- 
tain the  remains  of  Red  Jacket,  the  renowned  chief 
of  the  Iroquois   a  century  ago. 

These,  however,  are  all  of  comparatively  recent 
date,  and  not  the  work  of  the  "mound-builders" 
proper. 

According  to  the  elaborate  "  annals "  of  the 
French  Jesuits,  it  was  the  custom  among  the  Hu- 
rons  and  Iroquois,  and  perhaps  some  other  tribes, 
to    have    at  stated    intervals — once  in    seven    to    ten 


REMAINS  OF  ANCIENT  CIVILIZATION.  257 

years — a  "  festival  of  the  dead,"  when  the  remains 
of  such  as  had  died  within  the  period  were  col- 
lected and  given  a  common  burial,  and  a  sort  of 
mound  erected  over  them.  Such  are  the  works 
just  enumerated.  But  these  are  the  work  of  the 
Indian  race  that  now  inhabits,  in  roving  tribes,  ouf 
western  territories,  and  not  of  the  people  with 
whom  we  have  especially  to  deal. 

These    works   bear    but    a    crude    resemblance  to 
those   of   the    "  mound-builders,"  and  may    _. 

•'      Distribution 

generally    be    distinguished    by  their    geo-  of 

graphical    distribution.      The    lesser   works 
lie  chiefly,    if  not    entirely,  to    the    eastward    of   the 
great    lakes    and    the    Alleghany    Mountains ;    those 
of  the  "  mound-builders,"  w^ith  very  rare  exceptions, 
lie  to   the  westward    of  the    Alleghanies. 

We  now  return   to  a  consideration  of  the    sepul- 
chral   mounds. 

At    Grave   Creek,    West   Virginia,    is    one    of  the 
most   remarkable    of  this  class.     It    is  sev- 
enty   feet    in    hei^-ht,    and    not    less    than  .^ 

J  •=>       '  mound 

nine  hundred  feet  in  circumference  at  the 
base.  About  forty  years  ago  this  mound  was 
opened  and  explored.  K  drift  or  tunnel  was  made 
at  the  base  toward  the  centre,  and  a  shaft  sunk 
from  the  top  to  intercept  it.  About  forty  feet 
from  the  summit  the  workmen  came  upon  a  vault 
about    eight     by    twelve     feet,    and    seven    feet     in 


258  THE    CREATIOX. 

height,  formed  by  supporting  timbers  at  the  sides 
and  overhead.  And  at  the  base  of  the  mound 
was  another  chamber  reached  both  by  the  shaft 
from  above  and  the  drift  from  without ;  somewhat 
larger  than  the  first,  but  of  similar  construction. 
In  each  of  these  vaults  was  found  the  skeleton  of 
a  human  being,  surrounded  with  such  a  wealth  of 
ornaments,  especially  the  beads  and  shells  prized 
by  primitive  people  for  decoration,  as  to  leave 
little  doubt  that  they  were  the  skeletons  of  chiefs  or 
kings.  In  the  lower  vault  was  found  also  another 
skeleton  near  the  first  but  without  ornament,  suggest- 
ing the  idea  that  it  may  have  been  an  attendant  to 
whom  it  was  considered  honor  enough  to  be  buried 
with  the  king.  Further  examination  discovered 
other  remains  disposed  about  the  tomb  a  few  feet 
from  the  central  figure,  and  with  these  was  mingled 
charcoal,  while  the  bones  showed  marks  of  burning. 

These  somewhat  startling  facts  call  up  vividly 
the  account  of  the  burial  of  the  Scythian  kings, 
as  detailed   by  the   old  Greek  historian. 

When  the  king  was  dead,  the  body  was  placed 
in  a  tomb  prepared  for  the  purpose ;  one  of  his 
concubines  was  strangled  and  the  body  burned  in 
close  proximity  to  the  royal  personage  ;  then  the 
cook,  cup-bearer,  groom,  messenger  and  horse  were 
sacrificed  immediately  around  the  tomb  and  the 
whole  concealed   beneath   an    imposing  mound. 


REMAINS   OF  ANCIENT    CIVILIZATION.  259 

We  may  not  be  warranted  as  yet,  perhaps,  in 
assuming^    that    such    ghastly   funeral    rites       „     ., 

^  <-^  /  Possible 

prevailed    among    the    ancient    peoples    of       human 
America,    but    these    revelations    seem    to 
point   in    that    direction. 

Prof.  O.  C.  Marsh,  of  New  Haven,  describes  a 
mound  he  explored  in  186^,  near  Newark,     ^. 

^  -^  Discoveries 

Ohio,    about    ten     feet    high     and    eighty  of 

r     .       •  •  r  1-1  Prof,  Marsh. 

leet     m    circumlerence,    which    was     over- 
grown with   forest    trees,  some    of  them    more   than 
six   feet  in  diameter. 

The  excavation  was  made  from  the  apex  down- 
ward and  revealed  several  series  of  skeletons  at 
different  depths  below  the  surface.  First  were  the 
remains  of  a  child  with  a  string  of  copper  beads 
about  the  neck.  About  one  foot  below  were  two 
skeletons,  a  male  and  a  female,  carefully  enclosed 
in  layers  of  bark,  above  which  were  charred  rem- 
nants of  other  skeletons  which  suggested  the  pos- 
sibility that  the  latter  had  been  sacrificed,  made 
a  burnt  offering,  in  honor  of  the  others.  At  a 
greater  depth  were  found  still  other  remains,  gen- 
erally much  decayed,  which  seems  to  indicate  that 
a  single  structure  was  made  to  answer  the  pur- 
pose of  several  successive  burials.  In  this  mound 
were  found  several  hatchets  of  hematite  and  green- 
stone, a  flint  chisel,  needles  made  from  the  small 
bones    in  a   deer's    foot,    a  few    bits  of  pottery    and 


26o  THE    CREATIO.Y. 

bones  of  animals.  Other  mounds  of  this  class  on 
being  opened  disclosed  similar  contents,  so  that 
further  descriptions   of  them  are   unnecessary. 

Some    of    these    mounds    have    been    opened    in 
more    recent    times,    and    used    as    burial- 

Intrusion 

of  places    by   the    Indians.       It    is    even    con- 

jectured that  the  Indian  cemeteries  de- 
scribed in  Western  New  York  were  originally  the 
work  of  the  ''  mound-builder,"  afterward  appropriated 
by  the  Indians.  But  these  intrusions  upon  the 
sanctity  of  the  ancient  sepulchre  are  easily  de- 
tected, as  the  regular  strata  so  carefully  laid  by 
the  original  builders  are  disturbed  and  the  sym- 
metry  of  the   structure   therefore  impaired. 

There  is  another  class  of  these  works,  known  as 
Temple   mo2inds.     They  have   the    form  of 
moundl     ^    truncated    pyramid,     and    are    supposed 
to    have    served    as    foundations    for    tem- 
ples, which    being   built  of  wood    or    other   perisha- 
ble material  have  utterly  disappeared. 

Chief  among  these  is,  or  was,  the  great  mound 
at  Cahokia,  Illinois,  ninety  feet  in  height,  with  a 
rectangular  base  five  hundred  by  seven  hundred 
feet.  There  was  a  broad  terrace  reached  by  a 
graded  way  on  one  side,  and  the  summit  of  the 
mound  was  two  hundred  by  four  hundred  and  fifty 
feet.  Mr.  Foster,  in  his  prehistoric  races,  speaking 
of  this  mound,   gives  his    imagination    wings    as    fol 


REMAINS  OF  ANCIENT   CIVILIZATION.  261 

lows  :  "  It  is  probable  that  upon  this  platform  was 
reared  a  capacious  temple,  within  whose  walls  the 
high  priests  gathered  from  different  quarters  at 
stated  seasons,  celebrating  their  mystic  rites,  while 
the  swarming  multitude  below  looked  up  with 
mute  adoration."  The  suggestion  is  taken  from 
the  similarity  of  these  mounds  to  the  bases  of  re- 
ligious  edifices   in    Mexico  and  Yucatan.     There  are 

o 

smaller  structures  of  the  same  class  as  the  Cahokia 
mound  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  and  sup- 
posed  to  have  served  the  same  purposes. 

There  are  yet  other  classes  of  mounds  to  which 
no     specific  use    can    be    assigned.     They 

c      ^      ^-  -x.  Animal 

seem  to  represent  some  fantastic  conceit,  rounds 
since  they  take  the  forms  of  animals — 
the  fox,  the  bear,  the  turtle  with  tail  of  extraor- 
dinary length,  or  buffaloes  in  procession.  These 
are  especially  numerous  in  Wisconsin ;  one  on  Fox 
River  represents  the  outlines  of  a  bird ;  one  near 
Baraboo  takes  the  form  of  a  man ;  one  in  Mis- 
sissippi the  bust  of  a  woman ;  and  one  elaborate 
structure  in  Adams  County,  Ohio,  has  the  shape 
of  a  serpent  with  a  triple  coil  at  the  tail.  One 
or  two  have  been  described  bearing  some  resem- 
blance to  the  elephant  or  mastodon.  Whether 
these  were  mere  idle  conceits  ;  whether  they  were 
regarded  only  as  triumphs  of  art  or  invention, 
or  whether    they    represented    the    ideal  conceptions 


262  THE  CREATION 

of  their  religion,  as  the  Gods  of  the  Egyptians 
took  the  forms  of  animals  and  men,  is  matter  as 
yet  of  pure  conjecture. 

Of  far  more  interest,   however,  than  the  mounds 
themselves,    whatever   their    form,   are    the 

Works  of  art  ' 

and         contents  found   in    them.      These    are    the 

us  ry.  ^^^  memorials  of  the  people,  since  they 
indicate  the  degree  of  civilization  they  had  at- 
tained, by  the  knowledge  of  art  which  they  pos- 
sessed. 

Wrought  copper  is  found  in  considerable  quan- 
tities, whence  we  infer  that  they  understood  min- 
ing and  had  some  knowledge  of  metallurgy  ;  marine 
shells  are  also  found  in  some  of  the  mounds  far 
in  the  interior,  whence  we  conclude  they  had  some 
sort  of  communication,  or  commercial  intercourse 
with    the    sea. 

They  had  axes  and  ornaments  of  the  hardest 
stone,  so  smoothly  and  skilfully  wrought,  we  must 
suppose  they  had  some,  knowledge  of  the  more 
difficult  mechanic  arts.  While  their  pipes  and  pot- 
tery were  often  wrought  with  such  precision,  and 
such  fidelity  to  nature  in  the  forms  they  represent, 
as  to  entitle  them  to  the  name  of  artists,  as  well 
as  artizans.  They  spun  thread  and  made  woven 
fabrics. 

Several  tablets,  with  mystic  engravings  have 
been  reported  from   the  mounds  from  time  to  time  ; 


REMAINS   OF  ANCIENT   CIVILIZATION.  263 

but  their  genuineness  is  doubted.  And  though  the 
horse  was  probably  unknown  in  America  at  that 
day,  there  is  evidence  that  they  moved  from  place 
to  place  with  considerable  facility,  and  so  must 
have  had  convenient    means  of  transportation. 

Inasmuch  as  fragments  of  copper  have  been 
found  in  the  glacial  drift  all  over  the  western 
States,  south  of  the  Lake  Superior  region,  it  was 
long  supposed  that  this  may  have  been  the  "  mound- 
builders"  source  of  supply.  Recent  investigations, 
however,  have   led   to  a    different    conclusion. 

Mr.  Knapp,  the  Superintendent  of  the  Lake 
Superior    mines,    in     1848,    discovered    an 

,  ,  .  The  "mound- 

old  shaft  twenty-six  feet  deep,  which  was      builders" 

filled  to  the  depth  of  about  twenty  feet  "^""""-^  "^pp""- 
with  mingled  clay  and  mouldering  vegetation.  At 
this  depth  he  came  upon  a  mass  of  copper,  of 
about  six  tons  weight,  which  had  been  raised  five 
feet  from  its  original  bed  and  rested  on  a  frame- 
work of  oak  timbers.  The  miners  seem  to  have 
raised  it  to  this  height  and  then  abandoned  it. 
The  wood  quickly  crumbled  on  exposure  to  the 
air,  but  the  earth  was  so  closely  packed  about  the 
mass  as  to  hold  it  in  position  after  the  under  sup- 
port was  gone.  About  this  was  found  a  number 
of  stone  hammers,  mostly  of  porphyry,  also  mauls 
or  sledge-hammers,  both  of  stone  and  copper,  with 
copper    wedges  used  probably  in   moving  the  heavy 


264  THE   CREATION. 

weight  upon  the  wooden  supports.  Upon  the  de- 
bris of  another  shaft  in  the  same  vicinity  was 
found  a  tree  still  growing,  which  on  examination 
proved  to  be  about  four  hundred  years  old,  while 
the  crumbling  remains  of  earlier  generations  lay 
across  the  pit. 

Nor  were  these  isolated  cases.  Wherever  the 
mining  regions  of  Lake  Superior  have  been  ex- 
plored, either  on  the  islands  or  on  the  southern 
shore,  are  found  the  traces  of  this  ancient  race. 
And  as  there  are  no  evidences  of  permanent 
abodes,  as  in  the  warmer  regions  toward  the  south, 
the  inference  follows  that  they  visited  and  worked 
these  mines  only  in  the  summer,  and  therefore 
must  have  had  means  of  going  to  and  fro  at  least 
with  m.oderate  speed. 

It  has  been  stated  that  in  the  oil  regions  of 
Ohio   or    Pennsylvania,  there   are    wells    of 

Did  they  dig  ,  ^  ,  .  ,  . 

oil  wells?  such  remote  construction  as  to  warrant 
the  belief  that  they  were  the  work  of 
the  "  mound-builders."  We  have  never  been  able 
to  trace  a  case  of  the  kind  with  sufficient  certainty 
to  warrant  an  opinion  on  the  subject.  If,  however, 
they  worked  our  mines  and  practised  our  arts  so 
long  before  ourselves,  it  is  by  no  means  impossible 
that  they  were  equally  in  advance  of  us  in  the 
production   and   use   of  oil. 

Having  now  described,  with   sufficient   detail   for 


REMAINS   OF  ANCIENT   CIVILIZATION.  265 

our  purpose,  the  different  classes  of  mounds,  with 
the  uses  they  served  and  the  treasures  they  reveal, 
we  pass  to  the  important   inquiry — 

Hozv  old  are  these  mounds  ? 

It  is  a  difficult  question,  but  we  have  some 
data   from   which  to  form  an  opinion. 

The  atmosphere  of  this  country  is  drier  and 
more    favorable     for    the    preservation    of     ^  .^ 

^  Evidence 

the  dead  than  that  of  Great  Britain.     But  of 

1  •  r  ^     ■  y  1  r    ^1   •  antiquity. 

the  remains  lound  m  the  mounds  oi  this 
country  are  more  decayed  than  those  in  the  Celtic 
mounds  found  by  Caesar  at  the  time  of  his  inva- 
sion of  those  islands.  So  the  American  mounds 
seem  to  antedate  the  Roman  conquest  of  Britain, 
which  took  place  a  half  century  before  the  birth 
of  Christ ;  that  is,  the  mounds  are  hardly  less,  and 
may  be  more   than   two   thousand   years  old. 

This,  of  course,  supposes  them  to  be  the  work 
of  a  race  long  preceding  the  Indians.  But  there 
are  two  or  three  facts  independent  of  the  foregoing 
considerations,   that  go   far  to  establish  this  theory  : 

1.  They  were  not  nomadic  tribes.  Had  they 
been,  instead  of  building  fortifications  that  were  to 
stand  for  ages,  they  would  have  moved  from  place 
to  place,  as  the  necessities  of  the  situation  required. 

2.  They  were  an  agricultural  people.  For  no 
people  living  in  permanent  settlements  can  long 
depend    for    a    living    on    the    precarious    returns    of 


266  THE    CREATION. 

the  chase.  And  even  their  sepulchral  mounds  indi- 
cate the  established  character  of  their  habitations, 
since  they  must  have  been  long  years  in  building. 
3.  There  is  indisputable  evidence  that  the  works 
were  not  only  built  but  abandoned  centuries  ago. 
Over  the  excavated  mines  of  Lake  Superior,  as 
already  stated,  were  found  trees  of  more  than  four 
hundred  years  growth.  On  the  mound  at  Grave 
Creek  were  trees  nearly  seven  hundred  years  old, 
while  on  one  on  the  Muskingum  River  was  a  tree 
presum^ed  to  be  not  less  than  eight  hundred  years 
of  age.  These  must  all  have  grown  after  the 
works  were  abandoned,  to  say  nothing  of  the  fact 
that  the  original  forest  trees  are  not  the  first  to 
reappear,  after  being   once  displaced. 

These  considerations  carry  us  back  not  less  than 
a    thousand    years,    and    the    period    may    be    much 
greater.     No  definite  date   can   be  fixed. 
WJio,  then,  were  the  ^' mound-builders  f 
Some  will  answer,  a  peculiar    race  of  whom    the 
present     Indian     is     the     degenerate     off- 
tiTeorks      spring.      Others  will    say,    a    band    of  Az- 
tecs   from     Mexico,    who    made    incursions 
into   these   northern    latitudes    till   driven   thence   by 
other     tribes,    or    who     returned     at     will    to     their 
former    country    leaving    these    traces   behind ;    and 
others    still    place   them    outside   the    pale    of  all  re- 
corded   history. 


REMAINS   OF   ANCIENT   CIVILIZATION.  267 

Neither    of     these     theories     seem     to     be     well 
founded. 

To  suppose  these  mound-builders  to  have  been 
the  progenitors  of  the  Indians  is  to  place  them 
back  anywhere  from  three  hundred  to  five  hundred 
years.  But  the  Indians  have  no  record  of  them  ; 
nothing  more  than  a  faint  tradition,  and  that  ap- 
parently founded  on  the  mounds  themselves;  to* 
say  nothing  of  the  utter  dissimilarity  between  them 
in  character,  government,  habits,  and  modes  of  life. 

The    fact    that    no    mounds     are    found    on     the 
lower  river  terraces,   the   last  in  the  series 

No  mounds 

of  terraces  formed  after  the  close  of  the  on  river 
glacial  period,  has  led  some  to  conclude  ^^""^^^s- 
that  the  mounds  were  built  before  the  close  of  the 
terrace  epoch.  We  see  no  sufficient  reason  for 
such  conclusion.  The  fact  itself,  however,  is  of  less 
importance  than  may  at  first  appear;  for  even  at 
the  present  day  the  lower  terraces  are  subject  to 
overflow,  and  not,  therefore,  safe  for  earthworks  of 
any  kind.  Besides,  for  almost  every  purpose  the 
mounds  are  supposed  to  have  served,  the  higher 
ground  was  better. 

As  to  the  remaining  theory,  based  on  similarity  of 
arts  and  wares,  that  the  "  mound-builders" 

Relation 

were   descendants  of  the  Aztecs,    or  possi-  to 

bly    of  the    Toltecs,  of   Central    America;       ^'''''• 
or  rather  that  the    mounds    were    the    work    of    one 


268  THE    CREATION. 

or  the  other  of  these  nations  out  on  a  sort  of  holi- 
day excursion,  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  excursion- 
ists do  not  build  elaborate  fortifications,  much  less 
construct  defences  that  will  last  for  centuries,  even 
if  the  exigencies  compel  them  to  throw  up  hasty 
breastworks,  as  a  defence  against  an  unexpected  foe. 
Nor  does  the  supposition  that  they  were  temporary 
colonies  sent  out  merely  for  experiment  make  the 
case    more   probable. 

Besides,  no   well   authenticated  record  or  inscrip- 
tion   of    the   Toltecs     in    Nicaragua   dates 

Record 

of  back    beyond    the    sixth     or   probably    the 

Toltecs.  gg^gj^^j^  century,  and  the  Aztecs  come 
some  four  hundred  years  later.  In  other  words, 
trees  found  still  growing  on  the  mounds  in  Ohio, 
date  back  even  with  the  earliest  known  existence 
of  the  Aztecs  in  Mexico;  that  is,  the  mounds 
were  completed  and  abandoned  before  the  exist- 
ence   of  the    Aztecs    as    a   nation. 

But  if  a  similarity  in  art  and  architecture  argues 
a  connection  between  the  '' mound-builder"  and 
these  Southern  peoples,  why  not  suppose  the  Az- 
tecs to  have  descended  from  the  "mound-builders" 
instead  of  the  reverse?  Certain  it  is,  that  so  far  as 
we  have  any  data  on  which  to  form  an  opinion, 
the  latter  were  the  older  or  earlier   race. 

A  consideration  of  all  the  facts  bearing  upor 
the    subject   lead    us  to  the   following    hypothesis. 


REMAINS  OF  ANCIENT  CIVIIIZATION.  269 

Two   thousand  years   ago,    more    or    less,    the  in- 
terior   of  this    continent   was    occupied    by 
a    lar^e    population    of   semi-civilized    men    ,      ,,    . 

^        r-     jr  hypothesis. 

far  surpassing  the  Indian  of  a  later  day. 
Whence  they  came  it  is  little  better  than  idle,  at 
the  present  stage  of  investigation,  to  inquire.  That 
is  a  problem  that  cannot  yet  be  solved,  if  it  ever 
shall  be.  After  having  been  long  established  in 
permanent  abodes,  they  were  driven  from  their 
homes  by  the  incursion  of  powerful  northern  or 
eastern  tribes,  like  that  of  Alaric  and  his  hosts, 
that  came  down  upon  Rome  fourteen  hundred 
years  ago,  leaving  behind  in  these  mounds  the 
evidence  of  their  civil  condition  and  modes  of  life. 
As  they  withdrew  toward  the  south-west  they 
made  temporary  stands,  here  and  there,  and  erected 
some  of  their  characteristic  works,  till,  driven  thence, 
they  crossed  the  broad  reaches  of  Texas  and  found 
a  retreat  in  Mexico.  And  there,  under  more  favor- 
ing circumstances,  they  developed  the  type  of  civ- 
ilization that  culminated  in  the  halls  and  courts  of 
Montezuma. 

Our  reason  for  supposing  the  "  mound-builders" 
to  so  far  antedate  the  Aztecs  is,  that  the  latter  were 
at  the  height  of  their  civilization,  or  perhaps  in  its 
early  decline,  when  Cortez  invaded  their  country 
in  the  sixteenth  century,  while  the  latest  known 
work    of    the    former    carries    us    well    back    toward 


2/0  THE    CREATION. 

the    beginning    of    the    Christian     Era,    or    possibl) 
beyond  it. 

One  more  question  remains  to  be  considered, 
What  finally  became  of  tJie  "  inound-biLilders  ?  " 

It  is  unreasonable  to  suppose  such  a  people 
could  have  perished  utterly,  even  after  the  disas- 
ters of  the  Spanish  campaign  in  Mexico,  or  that 
they  could  have  be&n  so  entirely  absorbed  by 
other  nations  as  to  leave  no  characteristic  traces  of 
themselves. 

From  the  reports  of  explorers  and  surveying 
parties,  we  have  become  somewhat  familiar  in  re- 
cent years  with  what  are  known  as  the  Pueblo 
Indians  of  New  Mexico  and  Arizona,  and  also  to 
a  limited  extent  with  the  Cliff-dwellers.  This  re- 
gion, especially  Arizona,  is  largely  a  desert  country, 
but  with  frequent  oases  of  considerable  extent  and 
fertility.  It  is  apparent  that  the  country  has  un 
dergone  important  geologic  and  perhaps  climatic 
changes  in  the  past  few  centuries,  by  which  its 
area  of  fertile  lands  has  been  considerably  reduced ; 
and  this  has  tended  more  and  more  to  isolate  its 
inhabitants  from  the  outside  world ;  so  that  for  a 
long  period  almost  nothing  was  known  of  them. 
Recently  it  has  come  to  light,  however,  that  at  va- 
rious points  in  this  region  are  towns  or  communi- 
ties of  people,  in  many  respects  unlike  both  the 
whites  and   the   Indians.     They    are  mild  in  disposi- 


REMAINS   OF  ANCIENT   CIVILIZATION.  2/1 

tion  and  have  some  habits  of  industry.  They  have 
many  of  the  arts  of  civilized  hfe,  though  evidently 
degenerated  from  what  they  once  were.  They 
keep  sheep,  spin  and  weave,  and  clothe  themselves, 
in  part,  in  textile  fabrics.  And  they  cultivate  fields, 
though  by  rude  and  comparatively  inefficient  means. 
Some  of  them  are  Pueblo  Indians  and  some 
of  them   Cliff-dwellers.       The    former  have 

Pueblo 

great  buildings,  large  enough  to  accom-  Indians, 
modate  a  whole  community;  sometimes  of 
concrete  or  adobe,  and  sometimes  of  stone,  where 
that  material  can  be  readily  obtained.  They  are 
often  several  stories  in  height,  each  story  reced- 
ing from  the  one  next  below,  giving  it  much  the 
appearance,  as  Lieutenant  Whipple  describes  it,  of 
a  huge  ant-hill ;  which  appearance  is  much  height- 
ened by  the  passing  in  and  out  of  the  busy  mul- 
titude. There  are  no  doors  or  gateways  in  the 
lower  story,  the  only  access  being  by  ladders 
reaching  to  one  of  the  upper  terraces.  These 
buildings  are  all  of  ancient  date.  Most  of  them 
are  in  ruins,  but  a  few  are  still  kept  in  a  moderate 
state  of  repair. 

The    Cliff-dwellers    perch    like    swallows    on   sum- 
mits   or    in   niches    of    the    eroded    rocks. 
They  were,  by  their  own  account,  driven    ciiff-dweiiers. 
to    this    extremity    many    years    ago,    by 
relentless  foes  who   gave  them  no  rest   and    allowed 


2/2  THE    CREATION. 

them  no  safe  retreat.  Their  houses,  even  in  these 
precarious  positions,  are  built  and  furnished  with 
moderate  skill  and  comfort,  though  the  access  to 
them,  sometimes  from  the  summit  above  and  some- 
times from  the  canyon  beneath,  is  difficult  and 
often  hazardous. 

The  people  most  remotely  and  completely  sep- 
arated from  the  rest  of  the  world  are 
The  Moviuis,  known  as  the  Moquis,  and  there  are  re- 
ported six  or  seven  considerable  commu- 
nities of  them.  There  may  be  more,  for  the  ter- 
ritory is  not  yet  completely  explored.  Their  ex- 
treme isolation  from  the  world,  by  the  desert  re- 
gions round  about,  have  shielded  them  now  for 
centuries  past,  from  the  assaults  of  savage  tribes 
on  the  one  hand,  and  the  encroachments  of  mod- 
ern civilization  on  the  other.  Of  the  domestic  af- 
fairs of  these  people,  little  is  known,  as  they  do 
not   court   investigation. 

Prof.  Newberry,  of  Columbia  College,  paid  them 
a  brief  visit  a  {^\n  years  ago,  and  gives  us  some 
interesting  facts  concerning  them.  Approaching 
one  of  their  towns,  he  saw  first  a  group  of  girls  oi 
young  women  tending  a  flock  of  sheep,  showing 
them  to  be  a  pastoral  people  and  suggesting  patri- 
archal times.  The  houses  were  such  as  have  been 
described.  In  the  morning  it  is  their  habit  to  go 
upon   the  house-top   and  do  obeisance   to  the   rising 


REMAINS   OF  ANCIENT   CI VIII ZA  TION.  273 

sun,  a  remnant  certainly,  if  not  a  form  of  worship 
of  the  sun.  After  the  manner  of  the  ancient 
Greeks,  they  recognize  deities  or  guardian  spirits  as 
presiding  over  fountains  and  the  Hke.  Coming  to 
a  spring  on  their  journeys,  they  make  an  offering 
before  they  drink.  A  handful  of  meal  scattered 
about  the  fountain  may  serve  the  purpose.  They 
suspend  something  like  a  piece  of  candle-wick 
with  one  end  in  the  spring,  and  when  the  water, 
following  the  law  of  capillary  attraction,  runs  up 
the  wick,  they  account  it  evidence  that  the  spirit 
is  drinking,  that  their  offering  is  accepted  and 
they   are  at  liberty  to  drink. 

Who,  now,  are    these   people,  and  whence    came 
they? 

Again  we  answer  for  ourselves. 
They  are  the  feeble  remnant  of  the  Aztecs— the 
mighty  people,  mighty   at   least    in   num- 

The  "  mound- 

bers,  who  under  the  Montezumas  held  builders"  and 
the  vast  rich  fields  of  Mexico,  till  they  '^^' ^^'^^"^^• 
fell  before  the  cupidity  of  the  Spanish  conqueror. 
And  if  the  Aztecs  were  the  "  mound-builders"  and 
the  Moquis  were  the  Aztecs,  the  deduction  is  a 
plain  one,  that  the  Moquis  of  New  Mexico  to-day, 
are  the  remote  remnant  of  the  "mound-builders" 
of  the  Mississippi  valley  of  two  thousand  years  ago. 
We  shall  be  met  at  this  point  by  some  enthusi 
astic  archaeologists  whose   opinion   is   entitled  to  re- 


2/4  THE    CREATION. 

spect,  with  the  assumption  that  there  is  no   similar- 
,  ity    between    the    lan^ua^es    of   these    two 

Language  of        -^  ^5       & 

the  "mound-  races,    SO    remote    from   one    another.     But 

builders."        .  .,,  111  •       •   ^ 

they  will  probably  insist  on  some  con- 
nection between  the  ''mound-builders"  and  the 
Aztecs. 

We  reply,  that  of  the  language  of  the  "■  mound- 
builders"  we  know  absolutely  nothing.  And  it  is, 
therefore,  as  impossible  to  trace  any  affinity  in  lan- 
guage between  the  "■  mound-builders"  and  the  Az- 
tecs, as  between  the  "mound-builders"  and  the 
Moquis.  But  there  is  a  likeness  in  art  and  archi- 
tecture, in  apparent  religion  and  modes  of  life,  be- 
tween the  "  mound-builders"  and  the  Aztecs,  and 
a  still  better  established  likeness  between  the  Az- 
tecs and  the  Moquis. 

We  have  little  data  on  which  to  trace  the 
ethnic    relations    of  the    ''  mound-builders." 

In    two    or    three  skulls   recovered  in  a  sufficient 
state  of  preservation  to  be   accurately  ex- 
amined, is  the  low  forehead  and  prominent        ^^^^ 

^  affinities. 

cheek-bone,  that  suggest  the  Mongolian 
rather  than  the  Caucasian  race,  and  yet  it  is  not 
established  that  they  belonged  to  either.  Judged  by 
these  skulls,  they  were  not  given  to  great  virtues 
or  great  vices ;  nor  were  they  great  inventors,  though 
probably  clever  imitators  ;  a  mild  and  comparatively 
inoffensive    race;    capable    of  efficient    service    under 


REMAINS   OF  ANCIENT   CIVILIZATION.  2/5 

a  master  mind,  but  falling  an  easy  prey  to  a  crafty 
and  cruel  foe.  Such  a  people  might  be  efficient  in 
building  the  Chinese  wall,  or  the  Egyptian  pyra- 
mids, or  the  mounds  of  the  great  West,  but  are 
not  likely  to  achieve  great  success  in  life.  These 
qualities  were  evident  characteristics  of  the  "mound- 
builders."  They  are  historic  characteristics  of  the 
Aztecs ;  and  from  what  we  have  been  able  to 
learn,  are  the  actual  and  present  characteristics  of 
the   Moquis. 

This,  then,  is  an  epitome  of  the  whole  matter. 
The   *' mound-builders"    inhabited    the    val- 

Epitome 

leys  of  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries  and 
not  less  than  two  thousand  years  ago.  '^°^'^"'^°"- 
They  were  a  peculiar  people,  unlike  the  whites  and 
unlike  the  Indians  of  recent  times.  They  possessed 
a  good  degree  of  civilization  ;  lived  in  fixed  com- 
munities, cultivated  fields,  and  clothed  themselves 
in  fabrics  woven  by  their  own  hands.  They  mod- 
elled images  in  clay,  carved  the  hardest  stone,  and 
erected  elaborate  defences  against  a  foe.  They  had 
a  national  religion,  built  temples  and  altars,  and 
offered  sacrifices.  They  had  also  a  stable  govern- 
ment, in  which  the  masses  were  subordinate  to  the 
ruling  power. 

Driven  out  at  length  from  their  established 
homes,  they  withdrew  toward  the  south-west,  into 
Mexico,    and    possibly    into    Nicaragua,    where    they 


276  THE    CREATION. 

practiced  the  same  arts  as  before,  their  architec- 
ture assuming  an  improved  and  more  lasting  form. 
Finally,  overrun  and  driven  again  from  home, 
they  withdrew  toward  the  North,  gradually  dwind- 
ling in  numbers  and  declining  in  enterprise  by  rea- 
son of  their  multiplied  ill-fortunes.  And  now,  in 
the  midst  of  a  comparatively  desert  region  are  the 
remains  of  the  second  empire — the  power  that  after 
the  mound-builders  held  dominion  and  left  traces 
of   civilization   in    North  America. 


THE    END 


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IMPORTANT  STANDARD   WORKS 

RECENTLY    PUBLISHED. 

PRE-HISTORIC    AMERICA.      By  the   Marquis    de  Nadaillac, 

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A  HISTORY  OF  THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR.  By  Anton 
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CONTENTS. 

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The  Formation  of  the  Constitution.      V.  Foreign  relations. 

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and  Insurrection. 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS,  New  York  and  London. 


Date  Due 

"  "■.m 

1 

'" '  ^'^    :a 

1 

^ 

